Marlon Tapales shows up for practice daily with two things on his mind.
Aside from becoming the undisputed world super-bantamweight champion by toppling Naoya “Monster” Inoue on 26 December at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Tapales is also focused on another tough task.
“I want to show and prove to everyone that I belong on the elite level,” Tapales said from his Las Vegas training camp.
Installed as the massive underdog, Tapales, holder of the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation jewels, can’t seem to find anyone outside of his entourage, who believes that he can shock the world.
Inoue, who holds the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization straps, is so heavily favored that the frequently-asked question thus far is on what round the Japanese pound-for-pound star would demolish the Filipino southpaw.
But Tapales and his handlers are unfazed and they continue to quietly map out a gameplan intended to throw off Inoue come fight night.
Occasionally, Tapales would run a video of Inoue on his smartphone not necessarily to find faults but to spot cracks somewhere.
Although Inoue has yet to exhibit major flaws, Team Tapales feels the heavy-hitter from Kanagawa is not invincible.
“I am not going in there to be sacrificed,” said Tapales, whose corner will be manned by lead strategist Ernel Fontanilla and Ting Ariosa, formerly a member of the Philippine boxing team of the 1980s.
Nicknamed “Nightmare”, Tapales swears Inoue will soon realize he committed a big mistake in deciding to face him in the four-belt showdown.
When the smoke clears in the Japanese capital, Tapales insists he will look like he had a good night’s rest while Inoue will end up appearing distressed after having a bad dream.
“That’s when boxing fans would find out that I belong to boxing’s elite class,” Tapales added.
Tapales will uproot his United States training camp in a few days to begin the most crucial phase of his buildup in Baguio City by late next week.
The plan is for him to stay in the City of Pines until about a week before the Inoue encounter.
“From Baguio, he will proceed to the airport for the flight to Tokyo,” JC Mananquil, the fighter’s promoter, said.
