BAGUIO City—Marlon “The Nightmare” Tapales vowed to go all against Japan’s Naoya Inoue as he aims to unify the world super bantamweight belts in their fight on December 26 in Tokyo.
“Eyes on the price, that’s the only thing,” Tapales, 31 of Tubod in Lanao del Norte, told select media during his workout at the Shape Up Gym here Wednesday.
“Right now, I feel 100 percent in good in my condition, ready to erupt,” he said. “And all hell will break loose in Japan come fight night.”
Tapales is the reigning İnternational Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association but wants to snatch Inoue’s World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council.
He’s been training for months in the US and moved to the City of Pines to immerse back into the time zone.
Tapales holed himself out in training—no social media, no vlogging, no Tiktok or YouTube.
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300 300 He has sparred since against former world title challenger Vincent Astrolabio, bantamweight prospect Harlan Gomez and Pete Apolinar.
“A month and a week here in Baguio, doing my conditioning and sparring, and I really feel so good,” Tapales said. “I’m very thankful to all my sparring partners in the US up to here in Baguio for helping me in my buildup.”
His last sparring session will be Friday before motoring to Manila and flying to Tokyo on Tuesday.
Tapales’s American conditioning coach, Quincy Hatcher, said Tapales’s conditioning and discipline are the key on fight night.
“He’s very focused and well-disciplined, one of the best athletes I have worked with,” Hatcher said. “He is getting quicker and stronger each day.”
Tapales is 37-3 win-loss record with 19 knockouts, while Inoue is unbeaten in 25 fights with 22 knockouts.
“His footwork and timing are improving each day,” said Astrolabio, a bantamweight. “I have a hard time catching him, he counters really good.
“It’s getting more and more painful each day,” Gomez said.
International matchmaker and MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons said a victory by Tapales would guarantee his induction into boxing’s hall of fame as a first-ever undisputed world champion.
“He’ll be heading to the hall of fame surely, not just in Philippine boxing but in world boxing soon if he catches the ‘Monster,’” Gibbons said.
