Naoya Inoue strikes down Marlon Tapales in 10 rounds to become two-division undisputed champion
Naoya Inoue knocked out Marlon Tapales in 10 rounds at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo to win the undisputed super-bantamweight title.
Winning made Inoue the first super-bantamweight champion of the four-belt era.
It is also a historic achievement as he joins Terence Crawford as one of only two men to become two-weight undisputed four-belt champions.
It was a little over a year ago that Inoue was going undisputed at bantamweight.
In just his first fight at 122lbs in July, he knocked out Stephen Fulton to win the WBC and WBO titles.
He served up another spectacular finish to beat Marlon Tapales, who was the reigning IBF and WBO titlist after a career-best win over Murodjon Akhmadaliev earlier this year.
Inoue dropped Tapales in the fourth round and then delivered another knockdown in the 10th. Tapales could not beat the referee’s count.
“I would like to give a big shout-out to Marlon Tapales,” Inoue said afterwards. “Such a tough opponent.
“He never showed me fatigue or damage so I was quite surprised when he went down in this round.
“I think super-bantamweight is my weight division for now so in 2024, I would like to show myself at super-bantamweight in even stronger form.”
More to follow…
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