Filipino fighter Marlon Tapales displayed great effort against the formidable Naoya Inoue, but unfortunately, it wasn’t sufficient to upset the heavy-handed opponent.
In the 10th round of their undisputed super bantamweight championship fight at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday night, Inoue landed a powerful right straight, causing Tapales to drop to his knees.
Before the 10th round knockout, Inoue had also sent Tapales to the canvas with a left hook to the temple during the fourth round.
Despite the knockdown, Tapales lived up to his promise, turning the bout into a compelling showdown by actively engaging the heavy-handed Japanese fighter in a phone booth exchange.
He found success in the middle rounds by adapting his defense from a high guard to a shoulder roll, enabling him to land effective left hooks and uppercuts.
But Inoue adjusted his offense, doubling up his right hands and forcing Tapales back to his peek-a-boo defense.
Tapales paid the price for his high guard approach, as Inoue managed to break through with a devastating right hand in the 10th round.
After the devastating right hand, the Filipino went down and couldn’t beat the count, finding himself on all fours.
Tapales experienced his fourth career defeat in 41 fights, while Inoue made history by adding the Filipinos’ WBA and IBF titles to his existing WBO and WBC crowns.
With a flawless 26-0 record, Inoue joined an elite club as the second two-belt undisputed champion in the four-belt era, following in the footsteps of Terrence Crawford.
