Filipino boxer Marlon ‘Nightmare’ Tapales and his foe Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue from Japan are ready to go toe-to-toe as they will put their world titles on the line on Tuesday.
Tapales, the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) ‘Super’ and International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-featherweight champion, takes on World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior-featherweight titlist Inoue at the Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku, Japan.
The 31-year-old Tapales weighed 55,02 kilograms while his adversary tipped the scales at 55,20kg during the official weigh-in on Monday.
Tapales goes into the fight with a professional record of 37 wins (19 knockouts) and three losses. On the other hand, 30-year-old Inoue has won all his 25 fights with 22 of those victories being stoppages.
Meanwhile, Inoue will be out to make history by becoming the second man to become a two-weight undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
American boxer Terence Crawford was the first man to become an undisputed two-weight division champion. Currently, Crawford holds the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO welterweight titles.
The 36-year-old unbeaten Crawford is a former WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO junior-welterweight champion.
