Inoue, Tapales super bantam showdown set on Dec. 26 in Tokyo

Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue will fight the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales in a bid to unify all four super bantamweight belts in a Dec. 26 showdown at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, the event organizers said Wednesday.

Inoue seized the WBO and WBC belts after defeating Stephen Fulton of the United States in an eighth-round technical knockout on July 25 on his super bantamweight debut.

Nicknamed “the Monster,” 30-year-old Inoue was the undisputed bantamweight world champion before stepping up a division. He has gone 25-0 in his professional career with 22 of the wins coming in knockouts.

Tapales, the 31-year-old WBA and IBF champion, is 37-3, registering 19 KO wins.

Should he defeat Tapales, Inoue will become only the second boxer to unify all four major belts in two divisions after Terence Crawford. The American achieved the feat four days after Inoue’s victory over Fulton.

Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue (R) poses for photos with Marlon Tapales of the Philippines at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on July 25, 2023, shortly after Inoue dethroned Stephen Fulton of the United States as unified WBO and WBC super bantamweight champion in a boxing world title fight. Tapales holds the WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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