Marlon Tapales plans to beat Naoya Inoue — not just give a good fight

Two-division boxing champion Marlon Tapales is not coming to hostile territory just to give a good fight but to beat Japanese pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue when they clash inside the ring for the undisputed super bantamweight title on December 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Tapales, who holds the WBA and IBF world super bantamweight titles, is touted as a huge underdog going into the fight. The Filipino prizefighter, however, stressed that he is coming to Japan ready to pull off a major upset.

“It has been a good training camp, so far so good and I have plenty of sparring partners,” Tapales said in an exclusive interview on Sparring Sessions.

“For me, it is an honor to give my best for the fight. We are not going there to just give a good fight; we are going there to win. There are many doubters but we let them be, that is how it is.”

Tapales has spent the first half of his training camp in the USA and has sparred with the likes of Mark Magsayo. He is currently in Baguio City for the final leg of his preparation leaving no stone unturned for what is the biggest fight of his boxing career.

“This is a different [environment] because we are in high altitude. This is going to be a good fight. Support the fight because we have been training hard to win,” said Tapales’ coach Ernel Fontanilla.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News