TAPALES NOW RANKED NO. 3 BY WBO IN SUPER BANTAM
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 May 2017
CEBU ? Former WBO world bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales, who was stripped of his title after failing to make weight in his title defense against Shohei Omori of Japan last April 23 and has decided to move up in weight, is now ranked 3rd by the WBO in the super bantamweight division, behind No. 1 Cesar Juarez of Mexico and No. 2 Nonito Donaire Jr., also of the Philippines.
The WBO world super bantamweight champion is Jesse Magdaleno of Las Vegas who recently successfully defended his title over Adeilson Dos Santos on April 22 in California but is bound to face Cesar Juarez next as his mandatory challenger.
With Donaire rumored to be moving up to featherweight, that leaves Tapales in a position to become the No. 1 contender of the Magdaleno-Juarez winner.
?If Magdaleno beats Juarez, I'll talk to [Top Rank boss Bob] Arum of the possibility of pitting Tapales against Magdaleno,? Tapales's manager Rex 'Wakee' Salud informed Philboxing.
If Juarez beats Magdaleno however, that is the scenario that Team Tapales desired most since Marlon was hoping to meet Juarez in one of his future fights.
Meanwhile, three other Filipinos are also rated in the Top 15 of the super bantamweight division by the WBO. Next to Tapales is Genesis Servania, now based in Japan, at No. 4 and Juan Miguel Elorde, the Asia-Pacific super bantamweight champion, at No. 5. At No. 12 is Jack Tepora, the WBO Oriental champion.
Over at the stellar featherweight division, rising star Mark 'Magnifico' Magsayo, the WBO International champion who stopped his Tanzanian opponent Issa Nampepeche in the first round last Saturday in Cebu, is now ranked No. 4 by the WBO, inching closer to Oscar Valdez's crown.
Jason 'El Nino' Pagara remains ranked at No. 1 in the junior welterweight division.
In the junior flyweight, Jonathan Taconing and Jesse Espinas have maintained their No. 3 and No. 5 rankings respectively.
Arthur Villanueva, who was previously ranked No. 1 at bantamweight, dropped completely off the rankings after his lopsided loss to the now WBO world bantamweight champion Zolani Tete of South Africa last April 22 in the UK.
Marlon Tapales (L) throws a left at Shohei Omori during their WBO bantamweight battle in Osaka, Japan last April 23.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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