Naoya Inoue Likely To End 2023 With Monster KO of Tapales

Naoya Inoue (25-0-0, 22 KOs) is chasing a place in the history books on Tuesday when he faces Filipino southpaw Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

The WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Inoue bids to become the first Asian boxer to be an undisputed champion in two different weights in the four-belt era against WBA and IBF titleholder Tapales.

Inoue, 30, is an overwhelming favourite to dethrone Tapales, 31, and unite the division.

Best be ready with strong coffee, NY area fight fans

But the underdog has been buoyant since he arrived in Tokyo and has said that his legendary countryman Manny Pacquiao has provided him with some pointers on how to upset the odds and become the first man to topple The Monster.

Tapales has told the media that he’s prepared for the fight of his life, and the herculean task in front of him, and he needs to be when he graces enemy territory at Ariake on Boxing Day.

Inoue sent shockwaves through the sport when he demolished previously unbeaten American Stephen Fulton in July in the same venue to win two super bantamweight titles in his first outing at 122 pounds.

This win made believers of anyone on a fence, and super believers in the minds already convinced

The Kanagawa native stopped Fulton in the eighth round by technical knockout to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Kazuto Ioka in becoming a four-division world champion.

The super-fight airs live on on free TV in the Philippines in addition to being on Sky Sports in the UK and ESPN+ in America.

Naoya Inoue is Japan’s number one combat sports attraction by some distance and the country will almost come to a standstill to watch their pound-for-pound superstar.

On the undercard the ever-improving and undefeated Ghanaian-Japanese Andy Hiraoka (22-0-0, 17 KOs) boxes Mexican southpaw Sebastian Diaz Maldonado (18-6-1, 13 KOs).

Stay tuned to NYFights for ringside coverage of Naoya Inoue v Tapales