STORY OF PHILIPPINE BOXING PART XLIV: MARLON TAPALES, WBO WORLD BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 01 Jun 2020
Marlon Tapales was born on March 23, 1992 in Tubod, Lanao del Norte. He turned professional at age 16 without fighting a single amateur bout, knocking out Nestor Gamolo in the 1st round on July 18, 2008.
Then he won on points over Sherwin McDo Lungay by MD, Jherom Tuyor by UD and Freddie Martinez by UD.
He stopped Charlie Lamila by 1st round TKO, then decisioned Ryan Tampus by UD, Rodel Tejares by UD and Michael Rodriguez by UD.
Tapales suffered his first defeat at the hands of Brix Ray of Davao City by 6th round TKO for the Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) flyweight title in Surigao City on May 30, 2009.
He went on to grab wins over Jerson Mancio by UD, Armando de la Cruz by UD, and Randy Petalcorin by 2nd round TKO.
Nicknamed "Maranding Nightmare", he won the vacant Philippine Games and Amusement Board light flyweight title by stopping Warlito Parrenas by 7th round TKO on April 9, 2010 in his home town in Tubod.
Tapales successfully defended his belt against Charlie Cabilla via unanimous decision. Then he triumphed over Richard Olisa by UD, Rey Megrino by UD, Charlie Cabilla in a rematch by 1st round KO, Alejandro Solorio by MD, and Thailand's Manot Comput by 4th round KO.
He knocked Ugandan Martin Mubiru down thrice en route to a unanimous decision win. He stopped Rex Olisa by 3rd round TKO, and floored Indonesian Rasmanudin twice to win by 2nd round KO.
Tapales then lost to Mexico's David Sanchez in Hermosillo, Sonora on February 23 2013 in his foe's home turf for the interim World Boxing Council silver super flyweight title by majority decision.
He pummelled Indonesian Ruben Manakane by 4th round TKO in Kanazawa, Japan. Then he outpointed Fredirex Rodriguez by UD for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title.
Galih Susanto of Indonesia was the next victim whom Tapales conquered by UD. Followed by Hayato Kimura of Japan who lost by 5th round technical decision.
Tanzanian Fadhili Majiha challenged Tapales for the WBO Asia Pacific title but the Filipino champ prevailed over the black challenger by unanimous decision whom he downed in round 6.
Then Jecker Buhawe was knocked out in the 2nd round. Japan’s Shohei Omori was the next ring loser when he was also stopped in the 2nd round by TKO.
He traveled to Thailand to face Panya Uthok alias Pungluang Sor Singyu Onesong on July 27, 2016. The travel of Team Tapales to Bangkok then to Ayutthaya was delayed by one day and he struggled to make weight for the 118-pound limit.
Tapales got up from the canvas twice to stop Sor Singyu in the 11th round for the WBO world bantamweight title. He dropped the Thai twice in the 6th and 11th by connecting body punches.
In his first title defense against Japanese Shohei Omori in a rematch in Osaka, Japan on April 23, 2017, Tapales was two pounds over the limit and had starved in the last two days before the weigh-in but to no avail. He was stripped of his title belt, but knocked out Omori in the 11th.
Tapales demolished Tanzanian Goodluck Mrema in just one round in Quezon City on September 30, 2018.
On June 1 2019, he stopped Fernando Vargas Parra in the 5th round at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California.
Tapales also knocked out Mexican Robert Castaneda in the 3rd round of their super bantamweight match also in San Jacinto, California.
He lost to Japan’s Ryosuke Iwasa by 11th round TKO for the interim IBF world super bantamweight title in Brooklyn, New York on December 7, 2019.
Tapales has fought 36 bouts, winning 33 with 16 KOs, losing 3 with 2 KOs.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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