SPORTSCLOPEDIA 50: MARLON TAPALES, THE NEW UNIFIED WBA/IBF SUPERBANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 10 Apr 2023
Marlon Tapales scored a great upset defeating Murodjon Akhmadaliev via split decision to win the WBA and IBF superbantamweight titles at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas.
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Sergio Caiz Jr. of California scored the bout 115-113 for Tapales, Jaier Alvarez of Texas had it 118-110 for Akhamadaliev and Jose Robert Torres, also of Texas, likewise saw it 115-113 for Tapales.
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Tapales improved his record to 37-3 with 19 KOs, seized the greatest triumph of his boxing career, and became a two-division champion having won the WBO bantamweight title against Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand by 11th round KO after flooring him twice in the fifth round in Ayutthaya, Thailand on July 17, 2016.
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Akhmadaliev suffered his first loss, now with a record of 11-1 with 8 KOs. He was a bronze medalist in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and is the first unified world champion of his native country Uzbekistan.
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Tapales, called the “Maranding Nightmare,” dominated the first eight rounds based on Caiz's and Torres' scorecards which proved to be insurmountable even if Akhamadaliev took the last three rounds on the same judges' cards.
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"It is really big to me because this is for my career and my family," Tapales was quoted by DAZN. "I worked really hard for this fight."
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Tapales won seven of the first nine rounds and lost steam through the 10th to the 12th rounds. He was a +350 underdog in betting sites.
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The punch stats had Tapales throwing 704 punches against Akhmadaliev’s 608, even though the defending champ landed more punches, 147 as against 121. Tapales unleashed 439 jabs compared to Akhmadaliev’s 344 and connected more jabs at 53 as against 37 by the Uzbek.
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Tapales became the only second Filipino world champion this year, after stablemate Melvin Jerusalem of SanMan Promotions won the WBO minimumweight title defeating Japanese world champion Masataka Taniguchi in Osaka, Japan in January 6, 2023.
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With his unified titles, Tapales most likely will battle the winner between Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton, who will be fighting for the WBC and WBO superbantamweight titles on July 25 this year in Tokyo, Japan.
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The fight was originally scheduled on March 21 but was reset due to a hand injury incurred by Inoue in his training camp. Tapales is not threatened by the big challenge that he is about to face “[I will be ready] against either one of them,” he was quoted by Inquirer Sports.
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