This southpaw is on the list of Filipinos to come along in the generation (or two, by this point) to come along since Emanuel Dapidran Pacquiao blazed a trail of international crossover stardom and who either have been dubbed by the press (domestic or abroad), or avowed their own desire to be, "the next Pac-Man" - along with the likes of Jhack Tepora, Reymart Geballo, Mark Araula Magsayo, etc. Of these he is the most experienced, arguably the most credentialed, and IMO the most overlooked. (although he is probably the least explosive puncher of them all, to be fair, and in that sense the least Pac-like). He was upset early days by Decibrix Ambray, but recouped a little face by deflowering a couple of fellow prospects in Jerson Mancio (later the GAB light flyweight champion, and 2x OPBF title challenger) and Randy Petalcorin (a win that has aged very well, as "The Razor" has spent most of the nine years since that meeting with Tapales at the start of their careers ranked in at least one major org's top 15 in the world)...and with just one more loss in this first half of his career (a short-notice call on hostile soil against future champ David "Tornado" Sánchez Cantú, which nonetheless was close & controversial) his W column was rounded out with a who's-who dossier of respectable journeymen on the Oriental & Pacific scene (countrymen Warlito Parrenas & Rey Megriño, future Japanese bantamweight champion Hayato Kimura, plus Rasmanudin and Ruben Manakane of Indonesia) until his star-making run over an eighteen month period from December 2015 until April 2017. First he upset previously unbeaten Shohei Omori by KO in his own backyard of Kyoto, Japan in a WBO final eliminator for the 118lb title. Then he ventured into Ayutthaya, Thailand and dethroned champion Panya Uthok aka Pungluang. His first defense was a return to Japan, in what should have been a successfully retention of his belt with yet another (but harder-earned) knockout against Omori, but Tapales lost his belt on the scales. This caused Zolani Tete's promotion from interim to full champion, while Tapales was forced to accede that his bantam days were over. He didn't even make a pit stop at super bantam, however. The next time anyone spotted Tapales in a ring was seventeen months after the Omori rematch debacle, with the Maranding Nightmare making his featherweight debut on a stacked TV5 card last September. After so long on the shelf he would only get in 2 minutes' worth of work, however, as Goodluck Faustini Mrema of Tanzania proved unable to hang and was devastated by a big right hook. It was a savage blitzkrieg from which not much could be gleaned, but a nice performance showing the layoff and extra weight had not hampered Tapales much, if any. He made his US debut in February, beating up a durable Mexican and natural featherweight in Fernando Vargas Parra (who just prior had fought at lightweight), forcing him to quit after 5 rounds - which, combined with Mrema seems like it ought to have been enough tuneups distancing himself from his title reign at bantam, and enough consecutive soft touch opponents to shake off any rust. Alas, he is buried this Saturday deep on the Centeno vs. Monroe & Redkach vs. Alexander undercard, taking on Roberto "Azabache" Castañeda, who is 3-10-1 in the last seven years. He's only 27, meaning there's still plenty of sand in the upper chamber of the hourglass - but he needs to get something going. After this, a fourth shoddy record-padding stiff in a row will be a signal that Marlon's bandwagon is on a road to nowhere. Featherweight is a bit top-heavy, and there's room up there for a talent like Tapales, but his feet and hands won't remain so quick forever; he'll need to have angled his way into the world title picture in the next couple of years if he wants to become a 2-division champ.
The kid is a monster, and perhaps my favorite Filipino young fighter. Here's my thread I did on him. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...bantamweight-manananggal-of-kapatagan.579779/
For sure we will see a stronger and more powerful tapales that isn't hampered by weight issues that was evident since the pungluang fight. For someone fighting in 126 i saw him ranked 4 in the wbo 122 division. I hope he won't skip 122 as there are some very good matchups for him there(not saying there isn't in 126). Also @IntentionalButt you planning on making one for johnriel casimero? It honestly baffles me how underrated that guy is. Fourth best filipino fighter for me in this generation and no one even talks about him.
Been a long time Casimero fan, even since before he knocked out Ruenroeng in their rematch ...but yeah, puzzling that nobody (myself included) has dedicated a standalone thread in Johnriel's honor. In fact, per a quick search only a little over a dozen threads in the board's history even include his name in their respective titles, and those were all either RBR, vBookie, or poll/prediction threads about specific fights involving him.
Its not perfect, but its decent. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...uadro-alas-the-four-aces-of-cebu-city.535502/
