Is there any fight fan out there who feels the super bantamweight showdown between rival two-belt holders Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales will go all 12 rounds? Not too many fans think the judges will be needed in Tokyo, Japan on Boxing Day, that’s for sure. Looking at “Monster” Inoue’s hugely impressive numbers, we see the fact that Inoue has gone the limit in a fight just three times, the last time back in November of 2019, when Nonito Donaire fought his heart out in losing a great fight to Inoue.
Tapales is no slouch in the punching department himself, with the Filipino sporting a 37-3(19) record. Tapales did go all 12 rounds in his last fight, when he scored a split decision over Murodjon Akhmadalkiev, the win seeing “Nightmare” take the WBA and IBF 122 pound titles. But that fight aside, you have to go right back to 2015 to find the last time a Tapales fight went the distance.
It seems the December 26 fight will end with a KO or stoppage. Tapales has been stopped before, twice, and he has said himself that his fight with Inoue will “most likely” see “somebody fall.” It may well be Tapales that goes down, but the 31 year old southpaw says he has no fear of Inoue and that he has full belief he can pull off the upset.
“I believe I have a good chance of winning because I trained real hard for this fight,” Tapales said to Rappler. “Most likely, somebody will fall. It’s either him or me. Inoue may be the favourite, but with my training and preparation, I think I would be able to hurdle him. I have no fear. That’s [also] an advantage I think because most of his opponents got intimidated easily. I don’t care about the odds. I’ve been an underdog my whole life.”
Could we see an explosive, Hagler-Hearns type fight here? It is possible, likely even. Unless Tapales freezes, which his fans think unlikely, it’s a good bet that Tapales goes right at Inoue in an attempt to hurt him with something big early on. This may be Tapales’ best shot at winning. Inoue is a fine boxer, so Tapales doesn’t figure to be able to outbox him for any period of time. No, Tapales’ best chance is to go for it. If he does, and it sounds as though he plans to, Tapales might just play his part in a sizzling firefight. As Tapales says, somebody will fall. Most fans think it will be Tapales who falls, but this fight could be all action for as long as it lasts.
Tapales left Manila for Tokyo yesterday, so he will have a decent amount of time to acclimatise himself in Japan. Could it be that we get the best fight of the year on Boxing Day?