MANILA, Philippines ? Marlon Tapales put himself back in line for another world title run with a fifth-round knockout of Fernando Vargas Parra on Saturday, February 16 (Sunday, February 17, Manila time) at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
Knowing he needed an impressive performance, Tapales did just that, dropping the Mexican with a hard right hook to the head near the end of the round.
Though Parra was able to beat the count, he walked unsteadily toward his corner, prompting the referee to stop the bout dominated by Tapales from the opening bell.
Now, Tapales can look forward to either an eliminator or an outright featherweight title crack under the mentorship of former world champion Rodel Mayol and aegis of MP Promotions.
Though he has fought only once yearly since 2016, when he rebounded from two knockdowns in the 5th round to dethrone Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu in the 11th for the World Boxing Organization bantamweight crown, Tapales showed no rust.
The 26-year-old power punching lefty went busy, landing body shots and sneaking in jabs before claiming Parra as his sixth straight knockout victim in a 32-2 slate with 15 KOs.
The 30-year-old Parra dropped to 34-15-3 with 23 KOs.
Clearly, Tapales has learned his lesson from a harrowing experience in 2017.
In his first title defense against Japanese Shohei Omori in Osaka, Tapales checked in two pounds overweight despite starving himself in the last two days heading to the fight. Tapales got stripped of the belt, but eventually knocked out Omori, whom he had also stopped in 2015.
During the official weigh-in on Friday, Tapales came in at 123.4 pounds, even lighter than Parra?s 123.6. ? Rappler.com
