Article by: Rio Murakami

Clash with another unified champion, Tapares, within the year!　Naoya Inoue's "Four Group Unification Battle" and "Next"

After the match, Marlon Tapales (left) answered Inoue's call and came to the ring with two belts in his hands. He made it clear that he wanted to "fight" Inoue.

A hard-hitting southpaw nicknamed "Nightmare.

Even though he moved up a weight class, Tapares' overwhelming strength was still there. He landed a straight left to the body of his opponent, followed immediately by a straight right to the jaw. He followed up with a left hook, this time to the face of Fulton, who had fallen forward, and took him down. He got back to his feet, stuffed the two organization champion in the corner, and hit him with a series of lefts and rights, bringing the referee to a stoppage.

Before the fight, Inoue was favored by British bookmakers at odds of 9 to 2, and he showed the same difference in power. Not only power, but speed, skill, heart, intelligence, tactics, and toughness ...... Inoue outclassed Fulton, who was rated the "best in the super bantamweight division," in every aspect of his game.

Inoue, who added two belts to his collection and won four weight classes at once, said proudly in the ring, "I was able to beat Fulton, the best (in the super bantamweight division), in eight rounds, so I am the best" without losing his excitement, and no one would deny that after that fight.

Inoue's sights are set on unifying the titles of the four organizations in the super bantamweight division, following the bantamweight division. His target is WBA and IBF champion Marlon Tapales (31, Philippines).

Tapales, who was watching Inoue crush Fulton at ringside, came to the ring immediately after the fight and exchanged a shout of encouragement, saying, "I would love to fight. Hideyuki Ohashi, president of Ohashi Gym, to which Inoue belongs, stated, "I want to aim for unification of the four organizations by the end of this year. I'm going to make a move for that.

The 30-year-old "Monster" is still growing, and we will be keeping an eye on him in the future.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)