Tapales’ return trip to glory makes GenSan stop
Marlon Tapales is hard at work keeping his name in the world title conversation, and his upcoming bout is one of the many steps that he remains in the mix.
The former two-division champion is set to face Indonesia’s Jon Jon Jet for the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) International Silver super bantamweight strap this April 27 at Venue 88 in General Santos City in a pivotal match that would preserve Tapales’ lofty world rankings and keep him relevant in quickly shifting boxing leaderboards.
Sanman Boxing head honcho JC Manangquil shared with the Inquirer the bout’s venue shift, which was originally scheduled last Monday in Cambodia.
Tapales has been busy distancing himself from a devastating loss to the prolific Naoya Inoue back in December, which cost the Filipino the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) super bantamweight belts.
He has since racked up two wins, one a unanimous decision over Saurabh Kumar, and another a second-round knockout of Nattapong Jankaew.
Canoy on tap
“I’m very thrilled to be fighting back home again in Gensan. It’s been five years since I fought here, and I’ll make sure to give a great fight,” Tapales said.
Tapales last fought in General Santos City back in November 2020, when he scored a rousing second-round TKO win over Eden Sonsona.
With a 39-4-0 pro record, Tapales is currently rated No. 2 by WBC, No. 5 by WBA and No. 3 by IBF. With such high rankings, inactivity or worse, a slipup, could endanger his chances of challenging for a world title once again.
“It’s really good to see Marlon fighting back in GenSan before he competes again in the US at the end of this year—hopefully for a world title,” Manangquil said.
Jet, who touts a 15-1-1 pro record, is riding a five-fight win streak, four of which coming via stoppage.
Hometown bet Joey Canoy is also scheduled to share the main event spotlight with Tapales, as he battles Vietnamese brawler Minh Phat Sam for the WBC International minimumweight belt.
Canoy is looking to annex a seventh-straight victory and improve his 23-5-2 pro record.
