Marlon Tapales to fight in Cambodia anew this April

Marlon Tapales. | Sanman Boxing’s Facebook photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former IBF and WBA world super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales perhaps fell in love with fighting in Cambodia as he’s set to return there to face Indonesian contender Jon Jon Jet on April 14 in Siem Reap.

The 32-year-old Tapales, who is the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Continental super bantamweight champion, is gunning for the WBC International Silver super bantamweight strap against Jet.

A victory against his Indonesian foe would positively impact Tapales’ chances to land another world title shot, probably against his tormentor and undisputed world super featherweight champion Naoya Inoue.

READ: Marlon Tapales remains No. 3 in IBF, No. 2 in WBC world rankings

Tapales is highly ranked in the WBC at No. 2 and No. 3 in the IBF, while he’s ranked No. 4 in the WBA.

Also, he is on a back-to-back winning streak, clinching the WBC Asian title in the process. His latest fight was against Indian Saurabh Kumar in his first fight in Cambodia at its capital, Phnom Penh, last September where he won via unanimous decision.

READ: Marlon Tapales dismantles Indian challenger in Cambodia

On the opposing side, Jet, a 30-year-old Indonesian prospect sports a record of 15 wins with 12 knockouts paired with one defeat and one draw. His lone defeat came in 2019 after bowing down to Luke Boyd in Australia via a first round knockout,

Tapales’ stablemate, and world-ranked Joey Canoy will be featured in the fight card as well. Canoy (23-5-2, 14 KOs) will fight in the co-main event against Vietnam’s Minh Phat Sam (10-5-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-rounder showdown.