Can Marlon Tapales Defeat Murodjon Akhmadaliev?
Sometime in 2022, former WBO bantamweight champion Marlon “Maranding Nightmare” Tapales (35-3, 18KOs) will challenge unified super bantamweight champion Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7KOs). Tapales won an IBF eliminator over Hiroaki Teshigawara last December in dominating fashion. He scored a total of three knockdowns en route to a second-round KO victory. The win set the Filipino fighter up for this world title opportunity against MJ.
Tapales is promoted by the greatest Filipino fighter to grace a ring in future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao. He suffered his second career defeat in February 2013 to David Sanchez. Tapales would reel off twelve consecutive victories. In the midst of that win streak, he would fulfill his dream of becoming a world champion. He would defeat Panya Uthok, aka Pungluang Sor Singyu, in 2016 to win the WBO bantamweight title. In what was supposed to be his first title defense, against Shohei Omori, he would instead fight for the vacant title after Tapales failed to make weight. He went on to knockout Omori in eleven rounds, leaving the title vacant.
His twelve-fight win streak would come to a screeching stop after being stopped in eleven rounds against Ryosuke Iwasa in a fight for the interim vacant IBF super bantamweight title.
THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE OF HIS CAREER!
Whenever a deal is reached between the camps of Tapales and Akhmadaliev, MJ will be by far the toughest opponent of his career. The hard-hitting unified champion from Chust, Uzbekistan has been moved at a fast pace by his handlers. In January of 2020, he would take a huge step up facing then unified super bantamweight champion Daniel Roman, winning a split decision to become the new unified super bantamweight champion. He has made two defenses of his titles since becoming champion.
While MJ will be the heavy favorite, it wouldn’t be smart to completely count out Tapales. His championship and overall career experience is to be respected. Moreover, he’s coming off a very impressive knockout victory as mentioned beforehand. A confident fighter is a dangerous fighter.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
