PP 17: TAPALES JOINS TEAM PHILS VS THE WORLD
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 29 Sep 2012
Marlon Tapales has spent most of his career under the radar. Very few boxing writers in this country have seen him up close. He has fought on the undercards of two of Brian Viloria?s fights here in the Philippines but he was just another unknown boxer fighting before the big show.
He did get one fight in Las Vegas, a majority decision win against Alejandro Solorio of the U.S. which happened on the eve of Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley. He was reported to have struggled but this fight was not shown on Philippine television.
I first got to see Tapales when he won the Philippine light flyweight title against Warlito Parrenas (Wars Katsumata) by 7th round TKO two years ago. This fight happened in front of his hometown fans at the Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
?You have to see this guy.It will be worth the long trip.? A few pundits told me this going into this bout.
They were right. Tapales was not only difficult to hit but he landed sharp counterpunches that brought back memories of a young Gerry Pe?alosa. His opponent, Parrenas finished the fight with blood streaming from his nose as the hometown crowd yelled themselves hoarse.
I got to size him up again last October 2010, when he fought Richard Olisa in Sarangani. The bout was in danger of being cancelled when Tapales had a fever a few hours before fight time. But when he was cleared to fight, he gave an impressive boxing display that had the opposing corner cursing in frustration.
In June of last year, he returned to Tubod and beat his first foreign opponent, Yodpichai Sithsaithong of Thailand by 4th round knockout.
He was featured in a televised card only once, when he gave what would be a career best performance against Mobile Martin Mubiru of Uganda in Liloan, Cebu last October 9, 2011.
The Mubiru fight was Tapales? last recorded bout on boxrec but he said he had a win against Rex Olisa a couple of months later. He would earn his pay as a sparring partner in Japan but he became an afterthought for the few boxing scribes who religiously look at up and comers.
But those who have seen the 20 year old Tapales (20-1, 6 KO?s) at his best are very much impressed with his ring instincts and pin point counter-punching. He has been fighting under RWS Promotions and has no formal contract signing with ALA Promotions. But fighting on a PINOY PRIDE card will certainly do wonders for his career in terms of name recognition.
We hope he can rise to the occasion and show the casual fans what he is capable of. Natural boxers like him are hard to come by. He will be sporting the moniker ?The Nightmare? when he faces Indonesian boxer Rasmanudin this October 20.
We also hope that this will lead to a busier fight schedule.
Pinoy Pride XVII: Philippines vs the World will be at the Mall of Asia Arena and will be headlined by AJ Banal vs Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand for the vacant WBO bantamweight world title.
(Photo - Marlon Tapales)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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