Sky Sports to show Naoya Inoue vs Marlon Tapales
Boxing Day breakfast with the “Monster” Naoyoa Inoue
WBC/WBO world champion Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22KO) and WBA/IBF king Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19KO) will collide in an undisputed super-bantamweight showdown on Boxing Day.
Inoue, already a four-division world champion, seeks to become the second fighter to earn four-belt undisputed status in a second division.
Inoue-Tapales and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports and U.S. on ESPN+ in a special early-morning presentation, full details below:Fight Details
Date: Tuesday, December 26
Time: 10:30am BST / 4:30am ET / 1:30am PT
Venue: Ariake Arena in Tokyo
Rounds: 12×3 at super-bantamweight (122lbs)
Titles: WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO, Ring Magazine titles
How to Watch:
UK: Sky Sports
U.S.: ESPN+
Quotes
Bob Arum Top Rank chairman:
“The sensational Naoya Inoue astounds with every performance. We are witnessing an all-time great fighter in the prime of his career. He has a very difficult task at hand on December 26 against a tough, powerful Filipino champion in Marlon Tapales, but I am confident ‘The Monster’ will pass this test with flying colors.”
Background
Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) is 20-0 with 18 knockouts in world title fights since defeating Adrian Hernandez in 2014 for the WBC light flyweight crown. He then moved up two divisions, knocked out then-WBO junior bantamweight world champion Omar Narvaez, and defended the title on seven occasions.
At bantamweight, Inoue became the division’s first undisputed champion in the four-belt era, collecting each title as he defeated Emmanuel Rodriguez, Nonito Donaire twice and Paul Butler over a three-year span. After vanquishing WBC/WBO junior featherweight world champion Stephen Fulton via eighth-round TKO in July, Inoue plans to become the first undisputed four-belt champion at 122 pounds.
31-year-old Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) is a 40-fight veteran who debuted in July 2008. He spent the earlier part of his career fighting in his native Philippines, suffering two early setbacks before a breakout performance against then-unbeaten Japanese contender Shohei Omori, whom he defeated via second-round TKO in December 2015.
Tapales then captured the WBO bantamweight world title with an 11th-round TKO against Panya Uthok. After beating Omori in their 2018 rematch, he moved up to junior featherweight. He is 4-0 with 3 KOs since losing to Ryosuke Iwasa in December 2019. Tapales returns following his biggest win to date, April’s upset split decision against Murodjon Akhmadaliev to capture the WBA and IBF titles.
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