The great country of Japan always stages a big boxing event during the Christmas holidays, usually on New Year’s Eve. We could still get the New Year’s Eve party, but what has been tweeted by Steve Kim is the fact that Bob Arum has informed him that it’s looking likely that the Naoya Inoue-Marlon Tapales super-bantamweight unification clash will take place in Japan on December 26th, Boxing Day! How appropriate.
Kim’s tweet reads as follows:
“So Bob Arum tells me that he believes things are moving forward for Naoya Inoue-Marlon Tapales for all the belts at 122, in Japan in December 26. As for “The Monster” fighting again next year in America, Arum reiterated, “He wants to fight here.” So, banzai….”
Banzai, indeed.
Inoue, 25-0(22) is an astonishing talent. Having already ruled at four weights, with the 30 year old having unified the bantamweight division, Inoue is now one win away from unifying the super-bantamweight division. The pound-for-pound best in the world right now for some people, Inoue can do it all: box, bang, hit with venom to both head and body, from either side, and he has great stamina and fitness, and he can take a great shot.
Tapales, 37-3(19) and the holder of the WBA and IBF belts to Inoue’s WBO and WBC titles, is talking a great fight, but most fans see the upcoming fight as one huge challenge for the Filipino southpaw. And Tapales has been stopped before, twice in fact. Tapales is tough, he has heart, and he is dangerous, but it seems Inoue, the older man by a year, will have to be the victim of a major, major upset to lose the upcoming fight.
If this one does happen on Boxing Day, or boxing night, it will be great for us fans, at home on holiday as we will be on Tuesday the 26th. Inoue, a true superstar in Japan, pulls in massive TV numbers and his fights are always well worth tuning in for. The fact that Inoue may fight some more in America in 2024 is also of course great news. Inoue is one of the special ones, a fighter we will surely appreciate even more when he’s gone.
But for now, Inoue isn’t going anywhere. Apart from, that is, up to the featherweight division providing he defeats Tapales the way almost everyone feels he will. Would a crushing win over Tapales, the win seeing him unify an entire four-belt division with just two fights/wins, earn “The Monster” The Fighter of the Year Award for 2023?