Naoya Inoue will try to make more history

FIGHT WEEK

Pound-for-pounder Naoya Inoue will attempt to become a two-time undisputed champion when he faces fellow 122-pound titleholder Marlon Tapales on Tuesday.

NAOYA INOUE (25-0, 22 KOs)
vs. MARLON TAPALES (37-3, 19 KOs)

• Date: Tuesday, Dec. 26
• Time: 3 a.m. ET / midnight PT (main event later in show)
• Where: Ariake Arena, Tokyo
• TV/Stream: ESPN+
• Division: Junior featherweight (122 pounds)
• At stake: Tapales’ IBF and WBA, and Inoue’s WBC and WBO titles
• Odds: 12½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
• Also on the card: Seiya Tsutsumi vs. Kazuki Anaguchi, bantamweights

• Background: Inoue, No. 2 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, might be the most unbeatable fighter in the world. “The Monster,” a four-division titleholder with no obvious flaws, has been all but untouchable in his decade-long career. Future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire was the only fighter who gave Inoue significant resistance but the Japanese star fought with a broken orbital bone and still won a one-sided decision. Plus, he knocked out Donaire in a rematch. The 30-year-old is coming off an eighth-round knockout of Stephen Fulton in July, which earned him his two 122-pound titles. If he beats Tapales, he will become a two-time undisputed champion. He held all four 118-pound titles less than a year ago. He has recorded six consecutive knockouts since the first fight with Donaire. Tapales has been a contender for almost a decade but didn’t have a break through victory until his most recent fight, a split decision over previously unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev that earned him his two world titles in April. The 31-year-old southpaw from the Philippines is a good, experienced all-around fighter but probably not a threat to the gifted Inoue.

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

FRIDAY

• Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs. Salim Larbi, junior middleweights, Newark, New Jersey (FITE)