TAPALES WORKING DOUBLY HARD AHEAD OF OMORI REMATCH
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 06 Mar 2017
CEBU CITY ? Not taking his Japanese foe for granted whom he beat by 2nd round knockout on Dec. 16, 2015 to earn his world title shot, WBO bantamweight world champion Marlon Tapales said he is working doubly hard in preparation for his rematch with Shohei Omori which also serve as Tapales' first title defense scheduled on April 23 at Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.
?I'm sure that Omori is preparing himself very well for this fight,? Tapales told Philboxing after taking on three different sparring partners for eight rounds of sparring Saturday afternoon at the RWS Gym here. ?So I'll have to prepare well myself, anticipating anything new that my opponent will bring into the ring.?
After his dramatic 11th round knockout victory over former world champion Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand on July 27, 2016, Tapales (29-2-0, 12KOs) was scheduled to defend his title against Takuma Inoue last December 30 but the fight fight was canceled when Inoue fractured his hand during training.
Omori (18-1-0, 13KOsa) meanwhile has fought three times after the Tapales loss winning all by knockout the last one was against 2-time Filipino world title challenger Rocky Fuentes last Dec. 31 in Kyoto. Fuentes replaced world champion Lee Haskins of Britain who was originally set to defend his IBF world bantamweight title against Omori but withdrew after injuring his leg in training.
Omori hopes to avenge his only career loss in a rematch against Tapales. ?Win or loss I want to make sure I have no regrets,? Omori said quoted by Japan Times. ?It was disappointing to lose last time and I want to show Tapales I have improved.?
Tapales said he had a short break after the cancellation of his fight against Inoue but went right back into training after the Omori rematch was finalized last February. Tapales has just returned from a 2-week sparring session with Hong Kong star Rex Tso who will face Japanese Hirofumi Mukai this Saturday in Hong Kong.
Drenched in sweat, WBO world champion Marlon Tapales poses during training at the RWS Gym in Cebu Saturday.
With seven weeks left before the April 23 date, Tapales said he's now entering the hard part of his training running in the morning and working out for about three hours in the afternoon. ?Our goal is to improve my stamina. We'll be making 10 and 12 round sparring sessions in the next two weeks,? Tapales said who added, ?I want to challenge myself how far I can go during training.?
For the difficult an punishing days ahead, Tapales has locked himself up in camp at the Wakee Salud Gym together with his trainer Fernando Ocon. Also assisting in his training regimen is veteran trainer Brix Flores who told PhilBoxing that Tapales's skill level right now is at the very top of the heap.
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