FORMER unified super bantamweight champion, Marlon Tapales is set for a first appearance of 2025, as he travels to Cambodia to face Jon Jon Jet on April 14.
Tapales, 39-4 (20 KOs), lost out to Naoya Inoue when they collided for the undisputed 122lb crown in late 2023, but has since rebuilt momentum winning two in a row.
The Filipino debuted as a 16-year-old light flyweight in his home country back in 2008, but it was at bantamweight where he achieved success on the world stage, knocking out Pungluang Sor Singyu in the 11th round of their clash for the WBO marble in Thailand in 2016.
However, ‘The Nightmare’ was unable to officially defend his title, as he lost the belt on the scales ahead of a first defence against Shohei Omori, who was later stopped inside of the distance, before Tapales made the jump up to super-bantamweight.
The Tubod-born talent took to his new weight well, registering three consecutive knockouts before he was tasked with Ryosuke Iwasa for the IBF interim strap, where he was halted late by his Japanese rival.
Once again, a string of wins without the judges’ intervention would follow, as a trifecta of second-round stoppages earnt Tapales a shot at unified WBA and IBF world champion, Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
In one of the upsets of the year, Tapales dethroned the unbeaten Uzbek in an extremely tight split-decision triumph in Texas, snatching Akhmadaliev’s position for a shot at Inoue and the undisputed throne.
Unfortunately, Tapales was unable to replicate his underdog heroics against the Japanese pound-for-pound phenomenon, but provided a stern test for the four-division conqueror until the fight was brought to a close in the 10th.
Last year, Tapales bounced back with a first-round demolition of Nattapong Jankaev on home soil and a comfortable unanimous-decision against Saurabh Kumar in Cambodia and now the two-division world champion will return to Cambodia for a second consecutive outing in Phnom Penh, topping a Sanman Boxing bill.
The now 32-year-old is rated in the top four of the world rankings with each of the WBC, WBA and IBF. His next opponent’s singular defeat came in a lone trip outside of Asia, quickly dismissed by Luke Boyd in Australia in the opening round of their 2019 meeting.
Nicknamed ‘Scissorhands’, Jet has knocked out his last four opponents in Thailand and recently held the WBC Asian Continental title, which is now in possession of Tapales, but his inactivity has seen him partake in just four rounds since August 2023.
On the undercard, well-ranked minimumweight contender Joey Canoy, 23-5-2 (14 KOs), joins compatriot Tapales on the bill, as he fights Vietnam’s Minh Phat Sam, 10-5 (8 KOs), for the WBC International belt at 108lbs.
The full card will take place on Monday, April 14 in Cambodia, as Tapales seeks to position himself for a shot at the vacant 126lb titles, when Inoue eventually moves up to featherweight.
