Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Boxing fight updates and results today
Re-live the action from Tokyo, where Naoya Inoue fought Marlon Tapales for undisputed status
Naoya Inoue dropped and stopped Marlon Tapales on Tuesday, becoming a two-weight undisputed champion in the process.
With his 10th-round victory in Tokyo, the Japanese unified his WBC and WBO super-bantamweight belts with Tapales’s WBA and IBF titles. The result made Inoue, 30, just the second man to become undisputed in two divisions in the four-belt era, after Terence Crawford achieved that feat in July.
Tapales, 31, was a game opponent in the Japanese capital, but ultimately the Filipino went the same way as all of Inoue’s other opponents, as the home fighter stayed unbeaten and solidified his status as a four-weight world champion.
Inoue appeared to drop Tapales with a counter jab in round two, but the referee instead ruled the moment a slip by the Filipino. However, Inoue would score official knockdowns in rounds four and 10, with the latter ending the fight.
In round four, it was a left hook by Inoue that hurt Tapales, who was then put down by an onslaught of follow-up shots. Yet the southpaw showed resilience to fight on and make the bout competitive, even landing a number of clean shots to the head and body of Inoue, targeting the latter well in the clinch.
It seemed that the fight would go the distance, until Tapales stumbled backwards and fell to his knees in round 10, despite appearing to block a heavy right cross. The power of the shot seemingly proved too much for the WBA and IBF champion, who crawled forwards but could not stand in time to beat the referee’s count.
Re-live updates below.
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win
Here is our full report from the main event in Tokyo:
Naoya Inoue makes history with stoppage win over game Marlon Tapales
The Japanese won undisputed gold in a second division, becoming just the second man ever to do so
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win
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Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star emulates Terence Crawford
For those interested, here’s how Terence Crawford achieved two-weight undisputed status, in July:
Terence Crawford dismantles Errol Spence Jr to become undisputed welterweight king
Crawford earned a ninth-round TKO after dropping his fellow American three times in an era-defining win
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Who’s next for the new undisputed champion?
Murodjon Akhmadaliev has lost just once as a pro and it was via split decision, but it was against Tapales – whom Inoue just crumpled...
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star solidifies pound-for-pound status
Here’s why Inoue is our pound-for-pound No 1:
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE
Inoue vs Tapales LIVE
Inoue: “First of all, I would like to give a big shoutout to Marlon Tapales for taking this fight with me. Secondly, I would like to thank everyone who supported me and made this fight happen.
“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to fight against such a tough opponent. I think super-bantamweight is my division now, so in 2024 I will look to show even greater form.
“I am so relieved at the moment to be victorious against such a strong, tough and spirited opponent.”
Inoue adds that he’s especially happy to get the win in such decisive fashion.
“He never showed me fatigue or damage; I couldn’t see that from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round.”
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