If this is the case, one man will have a very Merry Christmas after the fight.
It is no secret that Marlon Tapales and Naoya Inoue are on a collision course.
Now, it appears there is a target date for their unification showdown: December 26.
Sports insider Steve Kim, who formerly worked at Bob Arum's Top Rank, broke the news on X (formerly Twitter), where he also bared Japan as the likely host of the bantamweight clash.
“So, Bob Arum tells me that he believes things are moving forward for Naoya Inoue-Marlon Tapales for all the belts at 122, in Japan on December 26,” Kim tweeted. “As for 'The Monster' fighting again next year in America, Arum reiterated, ‘He wants to fight, here.’ So, banzai…”
The unbeaten and seeming unbeatable Japanese went up a weight class and delivered a monstrous performance—stopping the erstwhile unbeaten Stephen Fulton in the eighth round to win the latter’s WBC and WBO titles.
After Inoue’s demolition job on Fulton, he reiterated his immediate goal: to unify the 122-pound division. He even got the chance to come face-to-face with Tapales, the man holding the IBF and WBA bantamweight straps.
The Filipino pugilist won his belts in heart-stopping fashion, authoring a come-from-behind split decision victory against the previously unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan.
Nevertheless, Tapales figures to be a massive underdog versus Inoue, who is widely considered as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters today. But the 31-year-old prizefighter is defiant, fully believing that he knows what it takes to take down The Monster.
If so, he will have a very Merry Christmas.