Liveupdated1703612992

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Boxing fight updates and results today

Re-live the action from Tokyo, where Naoya Inoue fought Marlon Tapales for undisputed status

Alex Pattle
Combat Sports Correspondent
Tuesday 26 December 2023 17:49
Comments
Cristiano Ronaldo's awkward reaction Conor McGregor

Naoya Inoue dropped and stopped Marlon Tapales on Tuesday, becoming a two-weight undisputed champion in the process.

With his 10th-round victory in Tokyo, the Japanese unified his WBC and WBO super-bantamweight belts with Tapales’s WBA and IBF titles. The result made Inoue, 30, just the second man to become undisputed in two divisions in the four-belt era, after Terence Crawford achieved that feat in July.

Tapales, 31, was a game opponent in the Japanese capital, but ultimately the Filipino went the same way as all of Inoue’s other opponents, as the home fighter stayed unbeaten and solidified his status as a four-weight world champion.

Inoue appeared to drop Tapales with a counter jab in round two, but the referee instead ruled the moment a slip by the Filipino. However, Inoue would score official knockdowns in rounds four and 10, with the latter ending the fight.

In round four, it was a left hook by Inoue that hurt Tapales, who was then put down by an onslaught of follow-up shots. Yet the southpaw showed resilience to fight on and make the bout competitive, even landing a number of clean shots to the head and body of Inoue, targeting the latter well in the clinch.

It seemed that the fight would go the distance, until Tapales stumbled backwards and fell to his knees in round 10, despite appearing to block a heavy right cross. The power of the shot seemingly proved too much for the WBA and IBF champion, who crawled forwards but could not stand in time to beat the referee’s count.

Re-live updates below.

1703593147

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win

Here is our full report from the main event in Tokyo:

Naoya Inoue makes history with stoppage win over game Marlon Tapales

The Japanese won undisputed gold in a second division, becoming just the second man ever to do so

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:19
1703595615

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win

Thank you for following our coverage of Inoue vs Tapales!

Scroll back through these pages to re-live Inoue’s latest triumph, and all of the reaction to it!

Happy holidays!

Naoya Inoue celebrates becoming undisputed champion in a second division

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 13:00
1703595015

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star emulates Terence Crawford

For those interested, here’s how Terence Crawford achieved two-weight undisputed status, in July:

Terence Crawford dismantles Errol Spence Jr to become undisputed welterweight king

Crawford earned a ninth-round TKO after dropping his fellow American three times in an era-defining win

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:50
1703594415

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Who’s next for the new undisputed champion?

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:40
1703593995

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Who’s next for the new undisputed champion?

Murodjon Akhmadaliev has lost just once as a pro and it was via split decision, but it was against Tapales – whom Inoue just crumpled...

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:33
1703593678

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star solidifies pound-for-pound status

Here’s why Inoue is our pound-for-pound No 1:

The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings

Here are our top 10 men’s boxers in the world

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:27
1703593617

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE: Japanese star makes history with stoppage win

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:26
1703592975

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE

Inoue after knocking down Tapales in round 10

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:16
1703592674

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE

Naoya Inoue celebrates becoming undisputed champion in a second division

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 12:11
1703591750

Inoue vs Tapales LIVE

Inoue: “First of all, I would like to give a big shoutout to Marlon Tapales for taking this fight with me. Secondly, I would like to thank everyone who supported me and made this fight happen.

“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to fight against such a tough opponent. I think super-bantamweight is my division now, so in 2024 I will look to show even greater form.

“I am so relieved at the moment to be victorious against such a strong, tough and spirited opponent.”

Inoue adds that he’s especially happy to get the win in such decisive fashion.

“He never showed me fatigue or damage; I couldn’t see that from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round.”

Alex Pattle26 December 2023 11:55

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in