MANILA, Philippines ? There is no shortage of suitors eager to get first crack at new WBO bantamweight titleholder Marlon Tapales. Promoter Rex ?Wakee? Salud tells RingTV that he is considering four offers for the 24-year-old Filipino boxer, who got off the canvas twice to knock out Pungluang Sor Singyu in 11 rounds last month to win the title.
The most recognizable name among the contenders is Paul Butler, a 27-year-old from England with a 21-1 (12 knockouts) record.
Butler has beaten four straight European-level contenders since facing Zolani Tete for the IBF junior bantamweight title in March 2015, when he lost by an eighth-round technical knockout. Butler is promoted by Frank Warren and ranked No. 12 in the division by the WBO.
Two of the offers have come from Japan, including one from the camp of Takuma Inoue, a 20-year-old junior bantamweight who is the younger brother of WBO 115-pound titleholder Naoya Inoue. Takuma (7-0, 2 KOs) is set to face Filipino contender Froilan Saludar on Sept. 4 in Zama, Japan. Salud also revealed that he was contacted by the people of Shohei Omori, whom Tapales knocked out in two rounds last December to become Sor Singyu?s mandatory challenger, for a rematch.
The fourth possibility is an offer to face TJ Doheny, the 15-0 (11 KOs) Irishman based in Australia who is rated No. 15 by the WBO at 118 pounds. Doheny?s manager, Mike Altamura, confirmed to RingTV that there was interest in staging the fight in late November in Vietnam.
?We have so many offers now but we have to study first what we want,? Salud says.
Salud says Tapales (29-2, 12 KOs) is already back in training with Brix Flores at Salud?s gym in Cebu City, Philippines. He says he expects to make a decision next week regarding the voluntary defense.
