Tapales bent on beating Inoue for undisputed title

MANILA, Philippines – Despite personally witnessing the destructive force that is Naoya Inoue, the camp of Filipino boxer and Inoue’s fellow super bantamweight titlist Marlon Tapales believes “The Monster” can be tamed.

Tapales’ team sat ringside at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan last Tuesday night and watched as Inoue (now 25-0, with 22 knockouts) obliterated American Stephen Fulton in eight rounds to become the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion.

Inoue, in only his first bout in the 122-pound division, dominated the previously unbeaten Fulton in the first seven rounds before hurting him in the eighth with searing 1-2 combination — a quick jab to the body and a thunderous right straight to head. The Japanese sensation then unleashed a looping left hook to put Fulton down.

The American beat the count, but Inoue did not let him off and immediately win in for the kill to force a stoppage.

Tapales, who holds the division’s other two belts — the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation — then climbed the ring to respectfully challenge Inoue and pose for photos.

The two champions are inevitably headed for a collision course, with Inoue a heavy favorite to emerge as unified champion.

But Tapales’ camp is confident of their capability to shock the world.

“Naoya Inoue is a great fighter, but every fighter has a weakness,” JC Mananquil of Sanman Boxing, which represents Tapales, told Philstar.com in a text message.

Mananquil did not elaborate on his statement, but stressed that Tapales is keen on becoming the first fighter to beat the seemingly invincible Inoue.

“Marlon will train very hard to become the first Filipino undisputed champion,” he added.

Mananquil said international matchmaker and MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons is working to get Tapales in the ring with Inoue for a unification bout this year.

“Sean Gibbons is negotiating, and he said it (Inoue-Tapales) will be around December,” said the Sanman chief.

Tapales (37-3, with 19 Kos) won the other half of the super bantamweight belts when he outpointed their previous holder, Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in San Antonio, Texas last April.