Naoya Inoue had to work harder than usual but the result was familiar.
Boxing Junkie’s No. 2 boxer pound-for-pound picked apart fellow titleholder Marlon Tapales before finally stopping him in the 10th round to become undisputed 122-pound champion Tuesday in Tokyo.
The Japanese star is only the second fighter to own all four titles in a second division in the four-belt era, joining Terence Crawford.
Naoya Inoue becomes a two-division undisputed champion with a 10th round knockout over Marlon Tapales.
pic.twitter.com/eRdz1JDLGy— 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓈 (@DiariosJournals) December 26, 2023
“I am so happy that I got the knockout in such a decisive manner,” Naoya said in the ring immediately after the fight.
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) controlled the fight from beginning to end but took more punches than he typically does and had difficulty breaking the resilient Tapales (37-4, 19 KOs) down.
The Filipino southpaw went down under a series of hard punches to the head and body in Round 4, which seemed to be the beginning of the end. However, he survived that adversity to do his best work in Rounds 7 and 8.
Tapales found a way to land counter punches more consistently than he had earlier in the fight and took everything Inoue threw at him.
However, his rally didn’t last long. Inoue, who remained persistent throughout, seemed to hurt him with a combination of power punches late in Round 9.
The end came in the following round. Naoya split Tapales’ guard with a straight right hand that forced his opponent to his knees and then all fours. And he wasn’t able to get up, making him “The Monster’s” seventh consecutive knockout victim.
The official time of the stoppage was 1:02 of Round 10.
“He never showed me fatigue or damage from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round,” Inoue said. “It was one of the most intense fights I’ve ever had, probably, but my corner cheered me up and kept me focused throughout the bout.”
Inoue had a terrific year, stopping two of the three best 122-pounders. He took Stephen Fulton down in eight rounds to win two titles in July. And now Tapales.
Next up could be his biggest threat in the division, Murodjon Akhmadaliev, whom Tapales upset by a split decision this past April. The U.S. based-Uzbek has a better combination of speed and power than either Fulton or Tapales has.
That could present an interesting challenge for Inoue. At the same time, he reminded us once again on Tuesday that anyone who tangles with him faces a near-impossible mission.
