Perhaps it was fitting that on Boxing Day, of all days, Naoya Inoue made more boxing history.
Just 377 days after he won the undisputed bantamweight championship, Inoue knocked out a game Marlon Tapales at 1:02 of the 10th round Tuesday in Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, to win the undisputed super bantamweight title. He joins Terence Crawford as the only men to hold two undisputed titles in the four-belt era.
Inoue was a staggering favorite at DraftKings, around -1800 to win and a staggering -650 to win by KO immediately before the first bell. Tapales fought a smart, disciplined tough fight, and yet was still no match for Inoue. Inoue dropped him after a multi-punch combination at the end of the fourth, and then finished him with a blistering right hand in the early moments of the 10th that Inoue wasn't expecting.
Tapales fought bravely from beginning to end, but couldn't beat referee Celestino Ruiz's count.
“He never showed me fatigue or damage from his face, so I was quite surprised when he went down in the 10th round,” Inoue said.
Tapales fought extremely well, particularly after a slow start. He was using his jab to close the distance on Inoue and then was able to land some shots of his own on the inside.
But Inoue was so much faster and so much more powerful than Tapales that it negated much of what Tapales wanted to accomplish. Inoue out-landed Tapales 146-52 overall and 32-9 in jabs.
Tapales promoter Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions was proud of his man's performance, but he said the raw skills of Inoue just were too much.
"Marlon said the power he could take, but it was the speed that gave him the problems," Gibbons told keviniole.com. "A guy with that speed and that power is very rare, and very hard to beat. On top of that, he takes a pretty good shot. Marlon cracked him a few times and he took it. He just has what Manny Pacquiao had: He has speed, power, and explosiveness when he wants to turn it up. That makes him very difficult to beat and he's very comfortable at 122."
Inoue is now 26-0 with 23 KOs and is a staggering 21-0 with 19 KOs in world title fights. He was leading 89-81, 88-82 and 90-80 on the judges' cards at the time of the stoppage. His co-promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, has had a slew of the greatest sub-featherweights of the last 50+ years and said Inoue ranks in that group.
He wasn't about to place him, but said Inoue is one of the most enjoyable fighters of any weight class to watch.
"He's a nice, nice kid and he has incredible talent," Arum told keviniole.com. "He's sensational. He's fast and strong and he knows how to box. He's a guy you will remember because of his talent and his desire to do big things in this sport. The thing now is, you can get a kid at this weight some exposure now that was hard to do back in the day. Danny "Little Red" Lopez was the first guy, and it was how many years ago, that you could do that with. And then was Michael Carbajal, who was a tremendous talent. But you had a tough time getting TV for guys at those weights. One of the things now, though, is you can do that and people can see how good this kid is."
Inoue will remain at super bantamweight for at least 2024, and is expected to return to the ring in May, potentially against Luis Nery. The bouts won't be as history-making as his last two have been, since they'll be title defenses, but they're still going to be a big deal because he's no worse than No. 2 pound-for-pound in the world.
The only fighter superior to him is welterweight Terence Crawford, and it's not like they're separated by much.
Inoue knew he was in for a battle, and he got it, but credited his father/trainer, Shingo Inoue, and the rest of the corner for their work in guiding him through the battle.
“It was one of the most intense fights I’ve had, probably," Inoue said. "But my corner cheered me up and kept me focused throughout the bout.”
It was quite the performance. He's a rarity, a once-in-a-generation guy who has it all, plus the desire to be great.
He may have reached his peak in terms of weight-class climbing, but having won titles in four weight classes, becoming undisputed in two and putting together a 90.5 KO percentage in championship fights means he doesn't have the pressure on him any more to do more.
It's all a victory lap from this point, though, come to think of it, his entire career has been a victory lap.