Marlon Tapales. | by Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former world champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales will make his return on May 10 against Thai Nattapong Jankaew, five months after losing to Japanese boxing superstar Naoya Inoue in Japan.
Tapales, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world super bantamweight champion, will square off against Jankaew for the vacant WBC Asia Continental super bantamweight title at the Midales Hotel and Casino in Manila.
His May 10 fight was officially announced by Tapales’ current handlers from the Sanman Boxing through its social media pages.
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To recall, Tapales fell short in his bid to become the undisputed super bantamweight world champion after he got knocked out by Inoue on December 26 with the latter unifying all four major world title belts in a dominating fashion.
Strong contender
However, Tapales remained a strong contender despite his defeat.
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Thus, he will reposition himself to earn another world title shot, particularly in the WBC where he is ranked No. 3, behind No.2 David Picasso and No. 1 Luis Nery.
If he wins the WBC Asia Continental title, Tapales will likely cement his position for another world title shot. He could face Picasso or perhaps the winner between Inoue and Nery, who are scheduled for a showdown on May 6.
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The 32-year-old Tapales has a record of 37 wins with 19 knockouts and four losses.
Younger record
Meanwhile, Jankaew has a relatively younger record of 12-3 (win-loss) with eight knockouts. The 27-year-old Thai is a former WBC Asian featherweight champion.
Jankaew has fought Filipinos twice, against John Kennan Villaflor and Adrian Lerasan. He defeated Villaflor in Thailand by a unanimous decision in 2020 but lost to Lerasan by technical knockout in 2022, also in Thailand.
He has fought in Japan but fell short against Hiroto Yashiro last year by TKO.