FORMER two-belt super-bantamweight world champion Marlon Tapales will keep himself busy in anticipation of a possible world title shot soon.
Tapales is slated to defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Continental super-bantamweight title against Indian prospect Saurabh Kumar in what should be an activity fight on Sept. 7, 2024, at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Despite facing a relatively unknown opponent in Kumar, the 32-year-old Tapales is taking this fight very seriously.
“All my fights are always important because this is a step closer to the fight that I’ve been waiting for,” Tapales told SunStar Cebu. “My training has been going well, and I’m ready and in good condition for my upcoming fight.”
The 28-year-old Kumar has fought almost all of his bouts in India. His biggest fight was a World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super-bantamweight contest in China against Zhong Liu last year, where Kumar was stopped by Liu in the seventh round.
Since that loss, Kumar fought Iarapborsing Kharbani to a split draw and then stopped Shivam Sharma in the fourth round.
Tapales is currently rated No. 2 by the WBC, No. 3 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), and No. 4 by the World Boxing Association (WBA).
Tapales, a two-division world champion, won the IBF and WBA belts following a split decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in the US last year. This win paved the way for a huge unification bout against Naoya Inoue, who then held the WBC and WBO titles, later that year.
Tapales put on a gallant stand but was stopped by Inoue in the eighth round, allowing Inoue to win all four belts.
“I’m always ready for a possible rematch with Inoue. But we are also waiting to fight for the vacant WBC belt if he decides to move up in weight and relinquish his belts,” said Tapales.
Inoue, the current No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, is scheduled to defend all four belts against TJ Doheny on Sept. 3, 2024, in Japan. The Japanese superstar also has plans of moving up in weight and fight in the
featherweight division.
Tapales, still considered as one of the best Pinoy fighters right now, has an impressive slate of 38-4 with 20 knockouts, while Kumar is 11-1-1 with six knockouts.