MARLON Tapales easily defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Continental super-bantamweight strap with a lopsided unanimous-decision win over Indian challenger Saurabh Kumar on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“It was a great tune-up bout for Marlon. Marlon needed the activity for bigger fights next year. We thank Cambodia for the warm welcome,” said Sanman CEO JC Manangquil, Tapales’ handler, to SunStar Cebu.
The 32-year-old Tapales, a former two-belt world champion, totally outclassed Kumar, winning on all scorecards with identical scores of 100-90.
Tapales improved to 39-4 with 20 knockouts, while Kumar dropped to 11-2-1 with six knockouts.
Tapales is keeping himself busy for a possible world title shot next year.
“Maybe if one of those titles becomes vacant from (Naoya) Inoue, then we could fight for a world title. But we will keep Marlon active. Maybe another fight before the year ends,” said Manangquil.
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).
Inoue currently holds all the belts in the super-bantamweight division. / EKA