By the time Marlon Tapales hops inside a Tokyo-bound plane exactly a week before his four-belt showdown with Naoya Inoue on 26 December, his team would be shifting its focus on his weight.
Scheduled to depart on 19 December, Tapales is still about ten pounds north of the super-bantamweight limit of 122 pounds.
“When I leave for Japan, that’s when we start working on the weight. But there’s no worry about making weight,” Tapales, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titlist, said from his high-altitude training camp in Baguio City.
The calendar of events leading up to the scheduled 12-rounder at the Ariake Arena has already been finalized.
On 15 December, Inoue, holder of the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization belts, will hold an open workout at the Ohashi Boxing gym in Yokohama.
Then it would be the Filipino southpaw’s turn to give the media a look into his fighting style on 20 December also at the same venue.
The press conference happens at 1 p.m. on 24 December at the Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Yokohama followed by the official weighin at the same venue and at the same time.
On fight day, the undercard kicks off at 3 p.m. with the main event happening between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
