Inoue Vs. Tapales Confirmed For Undisputed, Davies Vs. Barroso Made Official

In the latest boxing news, Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales will fight for the undisputed super bantamweight title on December 26th, 2023.

The bout will take place at the Ariake Arena, Tokyo, Japan, as Inoue puts his WBO & WBC belts on the line against Tapales who holds the WBA and IBF belts.

Inoue will be favorite given the form that the boxer is currently in. In his last bout, the Japanese star stopped Stephen Fulton in round eight in order to secure the WBO and WBC belts.

The result was all the more impressive, given that Fulton had been expected to provide a tougher test by virtue of being the bigger fighter.

Although that may have been the case, Inoue hit the American with a huge right hand which was followed up by a left that led to the stoppage.

As for Tapales, the former beat Murodjon Akhmadaliev in his last bout as the champion met Inoue in the ring following the latter’s win over Fulton to call for the undisputed fight. Thereafter, Tapales had plenty of fighting talk.

Tapales On Inoue

“I will be the Japanese monster’s biggest nightmare this coming December in his hometown. So glad my everyday training always goes smoothly. My condition looks good, as well as my stamina, durability, punching power, and quickness. So by December during fight night, I will be better than ever. I will be ready to be Inoue’s worst nightmare,” Tapales stated 

A win for Inoue would make the boxer a two-weight undisputed champion and follow in the footsteps of Terence Crawford as being the other male boxer to do so.

Davies Vs. Barroso

Meanwhile, Ohara Davies will face Ismael Barroso on December 2nd, 2023, as part of the Ryan Garcia-Oscar Duarte undercard.

The British boxer will make his American debut after having signed with Golden Boy Promotions this year. The winner is expected to face Rolando Romero for the WBA junior welterweight title next year.

Davies has been in an impressive run of form, having won his last seven fights. This included a ninth-round stoppage of Lewis Ritson to become the mandatory.

Davies was expected to face Romero for the belt, as purse bids were set for July 24th, 2023. However, those were postponed after Romero’s side filed for a medical exemption, which has now resulted in the mandatory being delayed as Davies faces Barroso instead. The winner would then face Romero, otherwise, the champion would be stripped.

“Yes [Davies will fight Barroso] for the Interim championship. He (Romero) has to fight us by March (20), or he gets stripped,” Lee Eaton (Davies’ manager)

As for Barroso, the 40-year-old was stopped in the ninth round against Romero during his last fight. The stoppage by the referee, Tony Weeks, drew huge controversy in that Barroso was firing back, while on the ropes.

At the time of the stoppage, Barroso was ahead on all the cards, having dropped Romero in round three. The defeat prevented the 40-year-old from becoming a champion, but this time around, the boxer has the chance to put things right if he can overcome Davies to secure another title shot.