Tapales, Indonesian foe make weight for WBC regional title duel

Marlon Tapales (left) and Jon Jon Jet (right) pose for a photo along with fight officials during the weigh-in. | Sanman Boxing photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former two-division world champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales and his Indonesian opponent Jon Jon Jet made weight on Saturday ahead of their highly anticipated clash for the WBC super bantamweight silver title in General Santos City on Sunday, April 27.

During their official face-off at the weigh-in, both fighters showed peak conditioning and professionalism, registering identical weights of 121.2 pounds—well within the super bantamweight limit. Their 10-round showdown headlines a fight card promoted by Sanman Boxing.

Originally scheduled to take place in Siem Reap, Cambodia on April 14, the bout was moved to a new date and location due to undisclosed reasons.

Currently ranked No. 2 by the WBC and No. 3 by the IBF, Tapales is eager to climb back into world title contention. A convincing win on Sunday could boost his chances for a potential rematch with Naoya Inoue, the reigning and undisputed super bantamweight world champion who handed him a tough defeat in their unification bout last December.

But before Tapales can think of another title shot, he must first overcome a dangerous obstacle in Jet, a powerful puncher with a record of 15 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw, including 12 knockouts.

The 30-year-old Indonesian is a former WBC Asian Continental super bantamweight champion and has gained valuable international experience, particularly from bouts in Thailand. His lone setback came in 2019 against Australia’s Luke Boyd.

Tapales (39-4, 20 KOs), for his part, is riding the momentum of back-to-back victories since the Inoue fight and is determined to prove that he remains a top contender in the stacked 122-pound division.