Boxing: Tapales '101% ready' for Inoue bout, says coach | ABS-CBN

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Boxing: Tapales '101% ready' for Inoue bout, says coach

Boxing: Tapales '101% ready' for Inoue bout, says coach

Champ de Lunas,

ABS-CBN News

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Marlon Tapales after his second round knockout of Jose Estrella at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, May 14, 2022. Nabeel Ahmad, Premier Boxing Champions/File.
Marlon Tapales after his second round knockout of Jose Estrella at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, May 14, 2022. Nabeel Ahmad, Premier Boxing Champions/File.

MANILA -- Filipino boxer Marlon "The Nightmare" Tapales has concluded the final part of his training camp in the Philippines for his unification bout against Naoya "The Monster" Inoue of Japan.

Tapales hit the mitts and worked on his power shots with head coach Ernel Fontanilla in a gym in Parañaque with members of the print media, MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons, Sanman Promotions President and his manager JC Manangquil in attendance.

"Sina Marlon tsaka Coach Ernel is just doing the light workouts na lang ngayon, so yung pagkuha na lang ng timbang, pagkuha ng tamang kundisyon during fight night," said Manangquil.

Some three weeks ago, Fontanilla declared Tapales to be 85% ready for the Inoue bout. This time around, the coach said: "He is around 101%, so he's ready."

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Tapales has logged 200 rounds of sparring in the past three months. He will face off against the unbeaten Inoue (25-0, 22KOs) on December 26 at the Ariake Arena, with the winner walking away with the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO world super bantamweight belts.

The Filipino will come in as a heavy underdog against the "Monster," who is widely considered as one of the best boxers in the world, pound-for-pound. But it's a tag that does not concern Tapales.

"Hindi naman po bago sa akin 'yung dumayo sa balwarte ng kalaban," said Tapales, who won the won the WBO bantamweight title in Thailand against then-champion Pungluang Sor Singyu.

"Of course, normal naman 'yung kaba, tsaka maganda 'yung kaba kasi nagbibigay 'yan ng magandang energy," he also said.

MP Promotions' Gibbons believes that should Tapales pull off the upset against Inoue, he will get the respect he deserves not just in the Philippines but also worldwide.

"It'll be the biggest upset of this year, last year, the year before," said Gibbons. "He's been doing this for a long, long time, and he'll finally get the accolades he deserves here."

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