More than tapping! Inoue and Tapales seek a big hit!

WBC/WBO champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue and WBA/IBF king Marlon “Maranding Nightmare” Tapales will collide in an undisputed super bantamweight showdown on Tuesday, December 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Inoue, already a four-division world champion, seeks to become the second fighter to earn four-belt undisputed status in a second division. Inoue-Tapales and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ in a special early-morning presentation.

Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) is 20-0 with 18 knockouts in world title fights since defeating Adrian Hernandez in 2014 for the WBC light flyweight crown. He then moved up two divisions, knocked out then-WBO super flyweight champion Omar Narvaez, and defended the title on seven occasions.

At bantamweight, Inoue became the division’s first undisputed champion in the four-belt era, collecting each title as he defeated Emmanuel Rodriguez, Nonito Donaire twice and Paul Butler over a three-year span.

After vanquishing WBC/WBO super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton was next via eighth-round TKO in July. Inoue plans to become the first undisputed four-belt champion at 122 pounds.

Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) is a 40-fight veteran who debuted in July 2008. He spent the earlier part of his career fighting in his homeland of the Philippines, suffering two early setbacks before a breakout performance against then-unbeaten Japanese contender Shohei Omori, whom he defeated via second-round TKO in December 2015.

Tapales then captured the WBO bantamweight world title with an 11th-round TKO against Panya Uthok. After beating Omori in their 2018 rematch, he moved up to super bantamweight. He is 4-0 with 3 KOs since losing to Ryosuke Iwasa in December 2019.

Tapales returns following his biggest win to date, April’s upset split decision against Murodjon Akhmadaliev to capture the WBA and IBF titles.

Both fighters held a training session open to the media where they showed that they are in excellent condition for this important confrontation.