| Marlon Tapales | |
| Nickname: | Nightmare |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in |
| Reach: | 67+1/2 in |
| Birth Date: | March 23, 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Tubod, Lanao del Norte, Philippines |
| Stance: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 43 |
| Wins: | 39 |
| Ko: | 20 |
| Losses: | 4 |
Marlon Tapales (born March 23, 1992) is a Filipino professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight titles from April to December 2023, and previously the WBO bantamweight title from 2016 to 2017.
As of October 2024, he is ranked as world's No. 1 ranked super bantamweight by The Ring[1] and second best by the TBRB.[2]
In 2016, Tapales defeated WBO bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu by KO in the eleventh round and won his first world title.[3] [4]
On 7 December 2019, Tapales fought Ryosuke Iwasa for the vacant IBF super bantamweight title. During the fight Tapales suffered a concussion because of accidental head-clash. But the fight continued and Iwasa won via an eleventh-round TKO.[5]
On 11 December 2021, Tapales fought Teshigawara, ranked #3 by the IBF at super bantamweight. Tapales managed to stop Teshigawara within two rounds.[6]
On 8 April 2023, Tapales beat Murodjon Akhmadaliev via split decision to win the WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight world titles and became a 2 weight world champion.[7]
On August 21, 2023, it was reported that Tapales had entered into negotiations with the unified WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue for an undisputed title bout.[8] The fight is expected to take place at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on 26 December 2023, and would be broadcast by ESPN+ in the United States.[9] [10] Tapales lost the fight by 10th round knockout against Inoue earning his fourth defeat. Despite the loss, however, Tapales made history for being the first Filipino boxer to fight for undisputed in the 4-belt era, and the second Asian to do so.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Win | 39–4 | Saurabh Kumar | UD | 10 | Sep 7, 2024 | |||
| 42 | Win | 38–4 | Nattapong Jankaew | KO | 1 (10), | May 10, 2024 | |||
| 41 | Loss | 37–4 | Naoya Inoue | KO | 10 (12), | Dec 26, 2023 | |||
| 40 | Win | 37–3 | Murodjon Akhmadaliev | SD | 12 | Apr 8, 2023 | |||
| 39 | Win | 36–3 | Jose Estrella | KO | 2 (8), | May 14, 2022 | |||
| 38 | Win | 35–3 | Hiroaki Teshigawara | TKO | 2 (12), | Dec 11, 2021 | |||
| 37 | Win | 34–3 | Eden Sonsona | TKO | 2 (10), | Nov 21, 2020 | |||
| 36 | Loss | 33–3 | Ryosuke Iwasa | TKO | 11 (12), | Dec 7, 2019 | |||
| 35 | Win | 33–2 | Roberto Castaneda | KO | 3 (10), | Jun 1, 2019 | |||
| 34 | Win | 32–2 | Fernando Vargas Parra | RTD | 5 (10), | Feb 16, 2019 | |||
| 33 | Win | 31–2 | Goodluck Mrema | KO | 1 (10), | Sep 30, 2018 | |||
| 32 | Win | 30–2 | Shohei Omori | TKO | 11 (12), | Apr 23, 2017 | |||
| 31 | Win | 29–2 | Pungluang Sor Singyu | KO | 11 (12), | Jul 27, 2016 | |||
| 30 | Win | 28–2 | Shohei Omori | TKO | 2 (12), | Dec 16, 2015 | |||
| 29 | Win | 27–2 | Jecker Buhawe | UD | 10 | Jan 31, 2015 | |||
| 28 | Win | 26–2 | Fadhili Majiha | UD | 12 | Jun 28, 2014 | |||
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | Hayato Kimura | TD | 5 (10), | Apr 13, 2014 | |||
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Galih Susanto | UD | 10 | Feb 8, 2014 | |||
| 25 | Win | 23–2 | Fredirex Rodriguez | UD | 10 | Aug 1, 2013 | |||
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Ruben Manakane | TKO | 4 (10), | May 26, 2013 | |||
| 23 | Loss | 21–2 | David Sánchez | MD | 12 | Feb 23, 2013 | |||
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Rasmanudin | KO | 2 (8), | Oct 20, 2012 | |||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Rex Olisa | KO | 3 (10), | Nov 17, 2011 | |||
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Martin Mubiru | UD | 10 | Oct 9, 2011 | |||
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Manot Comput | KO | 4 (10), | Jun 25, 2011 | |||
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Alejandro Solorio | MD | 6 | May 6, 2011 | |||
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Charlie Cabilla | KO | 1 (10), | Feb 6, 2011 | |||
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Rey Megrino | UD | 10 | Nov 5, 2010 | |||
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Richard Olisa | UD | 10 | Oct 6, 2010 | |||
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Charlie Cabilla | UD | 12 | Jun 12, 2010 | |||
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Warlito Parrenas | TKO | 7 (12), | Apr 9, 2010 | |||
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Randy Petalcorin | TKO | 2 (8), | Jan 23, 2010 | |||
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | Armando dela Cruz | UD | 10 | Nov 8, 2009 | |||
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Jerson Mancio | UD | 10 | Aug 29, 2009 | |||
| 9 | Loss | 8–1 | Brix Ray | RTD | 6 (10), | May 30, 2009 | |||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Michael Rodriguez | UD | 8 | Apr 19, 2009 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Rodel Tejares | UD | 8 | Mar 25, 2009 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Ryan Tampus | UD | 6 | Jan 15, 2009 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Charlie Lamila | TKO | 6 | Dec 27, 2008 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Freddie Martinez | UD | 6 | Nov 19, 2008 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jherom Tuyor | UD | 4 | Sep 20, 2008 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Sherwin McDo Lungay | MD | 4 | Aug 23, 2008 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Nestor Gamolo | TKO | 1 (4), | Jul 18, 2008 |