TOP RANK big boss Bob Arum said on Tuesday that veteran Marlon “The Nightmare” Tapales has what it takes to create a dent in Naoya Inoue’s unbeaten record as undisputed super bantamweight champion.
“People say Inoue is unbeatable, but I don’t think so. No fighter is unbeatable,” Arum, 91, told BusinessMirror through online call. Tapales’s determination and will are definitely his main traits to upset the Japanese “Monster.”
Tapales challenged Inoue in a December 26 fight in Tokyo.
“That’s a great fight. Marlon Tapales? I give him some kind of chance,” Arum said.
Inoue is undefeated in 25 fights with 22 knockouts, the last against American Stephen Fulton in July to become the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion.
After dominating all the belts in the bantamweight class, the 30-year-old Inoue moved up to 122 pounds and demolished Fulton via eighth-round technical knockout to seize the American’s two belts.
Tapales (37-3 win-loss with 19 knockouts) will return to Manila this month for his last phase of training in Baguio City before his team flies to Japan in mid-December.
He defeated Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan last April via split decision to capture the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association super bantamweight belts.