Iwasa stops Tapales in New York
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Dec 2019
Brooklyn, NY - Marlon “The Nightmare” Tapales (33-2, 16 KOs) failed in his attempt to become a two-time world champion in New York City.
Tapales was stopped by Ryosuke Iwasa (26-3, 16 KOs) of Japan in the eleventh round for the interim International Boxing Federation junior featherweight championship belt at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
A left hook by Iwasa dropped the Filipino fighter in the round. Tapales stood up to beat the count but was obviously wobbly after the knockdown. This prompted Referee Shada Murdaugh to put a stop on the contest despite Tapales’ objection.
This was the second scored knockdown for Iwasa, who previously held the belt.
In Round number 3, a left to the body dropped Tapales to his knee. But that was coupled with a head butt that landed at the same time.
Tapales complained after he rebounded from the questionable knockdown that it was a head butt but Referee Murdaugh still gave him a standing 8 count.
Iwasa was leading in all of the scorecards prior to the stoppage. Judges have it 97-92, 97-92 and 95-94 for the former champion.
Iwasa won the battle of southpaws. He was successful in finding his mark on Tapales’ face throughout the bout. Tapales was reddened and swollen on the right side of his face prior to the stoppage - a result of Iwasa’s left hooks.
Tapales tried to rebound after his knockdown in the 3rd, he was aggressive in the fourth and fifth round. He scored lefts of his own in the 5th, winning the round unanimously in all of the judges’ cards.
Iwasa took control of the middle to the rounds prior to the knockout. He trapped the Filipino numerous times in the ropes and unloaded combos that put Tapales in the cover. He was cruising to his victory until he unloaded a perfect punch to Tapales’ jaw which ended the fight. He faked a right punch and then released a strong left hook that sent his foe down and under the ropes of the ring.
"I knew that I had him hurt in the 11th round and I was ready for the finish if the referee had let him keep fighting. It was a tough fight but I trained really hard for this performance.” said Isawa.
With his victory, Isawa will have to face IBF’s main champion, Daniel Roman in a future bout to determine the real champ of the organization’s 122 pound division.
“We're ready for anyone next. I'm going to keep working hard to become a world champion again next year."
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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