The fight will take place in Tokyo on December 26
The fight has been officially announced, in which the holder of the WBC and WBO titles in the second bantamweight will meet Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KO) and WBA and IBF champion Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KO).
The unification fight is scheduled for December 26. It will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. For both boxers, this fight will be the first defense of their belts in the second bantamweight division.
Let us remind you that the Japanese Inoue in December 2022 became the absolute world champion in the bantamweight division, defeating WBO champion Paul Butler. After this, Naoya decided to vacate the belts and move up to the second bantamweight division.
In this category, the 30-year-old Japanese won the WBC and WBO titles in July 2023, defeating American Stephen Fulton by technical knockout.
Inoue was recently included in his personal top 3 boxers, regardless of weight categories, by Canelo Alvarez and Alexander Usyk.
Filipino Tapales held the WBO bantamweight title from 2016 to 2017. Subsequently, he also moved up to the second bantamweight category. In April 2023, the 31-year-old boxer inflicted his first defeat on Uzbek Nurojon Akhmadaliev, taking away the WBA (Super) and IBF titles from him.
Source: Sportarena
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