By Craig Daly: Naoya Inoue says he wants to face IBF & WBA super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales next for the undisputed championship after dethroning WBC & WBO 122-lb champ Stephen Fulton Jr on Tuesday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) only needs a victory over 31-year-old Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) to gather up all four belts at super bantamweight, which would make him two-division undisputed champ. ‘Monster’ Inoue captured the undisputed championship last year at 118.
If Inoue is able to win all the belts at 122, he’s expected to move up to featherweight [126] to try and become a three-division undisputed champ.
That’ll obviously be a lot tougher for Inoue because he would need to defeat the highly talked WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez, who wouldn’t be afraid to throw punches like Fulton was tonight.
Inoue tells Tapales: “Lets do it”
The earliest that we could see Inoue at 126 is the first quarter of next year because he’s going to be tied up with his fight against Tapales next, which should be the last fight for him this year.
“I want to fight Naoya Inoue because I want to prove to myself that I’m a champion,” said Marlon Tapoles inside the ring following Inoue’s victory over Stephen Fulton on Tuesday night.
“Let’s do this,” said Inoue to Tapoles about the two meeting next for the undisputed championship at super bantamweight.
Inoue vs. Tapales will create a lot of interest in Japan & the Philipines, but it’s not the mega-fight that Naoya needs to increase his popularity worldwide. He needs a big name where he could be the underdog, like if he were to face Vasily Lomaachenko or Shakur Stevenson.
The Philipines native Tapales recently dethroned IBF/WBAA 122-lb champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev by 12 round split decision last April in San Antonio, Texas.
Tapales suffered his only career loss in Ryosuke Iwasa in an 11th round knockout defeat in December 2019. Since then, Tapales has won his last four fights against mostly lower-level opposition, with the exception of his victory over Akhmadaliev.
A fight between Inoue and Tapales probably won’t move the needle for U.S. boxing fans, as this isn’t a well-known fighter, and he’s not from the States. It’ll still do well because of Inoue’s popularity.
For Inoue to get U.S fans excited about seeing him fight, he needs to face one of these guys rather than wasting fights facing obscure belt holders with no fan base in the States:
- Robeisy Ramirez
- Luis Lopez
- Vasily Lomachenko
- O’Shaquie Foster
- Shakur Stevenson
- Emanuel Navarrete
