TWO years after relinquishing his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title, former world champion Marlon Tapales gets another opportunity to become a world champion again.
The 27-year-old Tapales takes on fellow former world-titlist Ryosuke Iwasa for the interim International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight belt on Dec. 7, 2019, at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“He’s good. He’s tall and rangy,” Tapales told SunStar Cebu. “I believe I can beat him.”
Tapales was stripped of his WBO bantamweight strap in 2017 after tipping the scales overweight in a rematch with Shohei Omori in Japan. He went on to knock out Omori in the 11th round.
Tapales has been training and fighting in the US in 2019. He already fought twice in California, both stoppage wins against Fernando Vargas Parra and Roberto Castaneda.
Tapales is currently in Las Vegas, setting camp at the Salas Boxing Academy with his trainer Rodel Mayol and fellow fighter Romero Duno.
“I’m here in Las Vegas with Team Duno. After his fight, I’ll be returning to train in LA,” said Tapales.
Tapales is currently ranked No. 3, while Iwasa is ranked higher at No. 1. The current IBF super bantamweight king is Daniel Roman.
The 29-year-old Iwasa is the former IBF super bantamweight champion. He won the title in 2017 with a sixth round technical knockout of Yukinori Oguni.
Iwasa had one successful title defense against Filipino Ernesto Saulong, who he beat by unanimous decision, before losing his belt to TJ Doheny by unanimous decision in 2018.
Iwasa is coming off a technical decision win over Cesar Juarez in February.
Tapales is 33-2 with 16 knockouts, while Iwasa is 26-3 with 16 knockouts. (EKA)