Tapales, currently holding the titles of the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation, is setting his sights on claiming Naoya Inoue’s World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council belts to achieve the prestigious status of the first Filipino undisputed champion. In a fitting Boxing Day matchup, Japanese superstar Inoue is set to face Marlon Tapales in an undisputed title fight.

In July, Inoue secured the WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles by defeating Stephen Fulton. Now, the “Monster” is up against Tapales, who currently possesses the WBA and IBF belts.

A victory for Inoue would mark him as only the second individual to hold undisputed champion status in two weight divisions. Previously, Inoue held all major belts at bantamweight, following successful world-title reigns at super-flyweight and light-flyweight. Notably, all of Inoue’s fights under Top Rank in Japan since 2021, with Bob Arum in his corner, have seen decisive outcomes without going the distance. The 30-year-old previously became the undisputed champion at bantamweight by defeating Paul Butler and claimed the super bantamweight gold by overcoming Stephen Fulton in July.