Tapales continues winning ways, beats Indian rival in Cambodia

Marlon Tapales continued his recovery from a heartbreaking loss in Tokyo last year by scoring a unanimous decision victory over India’s Saurabh Kumar in their super-bantamweight clash at National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia late Saturday, Sept. 7. Tapales, 32, was dominant from the opening bell, tagging his Indian opponent with vicious combinations to earn the nod of the three judges who declared him 110-90 victor in their 10-round bout.

He improved his professional record to 39-0-4 (20KOs) while Kumar sustained his second defeat for a 11-1-2 card. As expected, the battle-tested Tapales was the eager, stronger and faster fighter, throwing more punches to convincingly the fight. The Indian had some fine moments in the fight, coming through with heavy punches of his own but it was obvious that Tapales was the sharpest and smartest of the two.



With the win, the pride of Lanao del Norte is hoping to earn another shot at a world crown, particularly against Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue. It can be recalled that Inoue shattered Tapales’ dream in their unified fight for WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO titles with a 10th round knockout win last year at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. After their big-time clash, the Japanese slugger won his two consecutive fights and so was Tapales who scored a first-round TKO victory over Thai Nattapong Jankaew in Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City last May.

The 5-foot-4 slugger is currently ranked No. 2 in WBC; No. 4 in WBA; and No.

3 in IBF..