MARLON TAPALES is fluent in English,
The Filipino holder of the WBA and IBF super-bantamweight belts will face fellow double-titlist Naoya Inoue (WBC and WBO) on December 26, but despite the match being ballyhooed as a fight for the undisputed 122lbs championship, Tapales recognises its true value lies not in alphabet trophies but in status.
“It’s really, really important for me, not because it’s for the undisputed, but to beat Inoue,” he says. “He’s number one or two, pound for pound. He’s a really good, skilled boxer; they say he’s the complete package. Beating him is more important than the belts.”
And yet it is because of the belts that Tapales gets his chance. After claiming all four major straps at bantamweight, Inoue wants to do the same at super-bantam. It is similar to the position Britain’s Paul
