FILIPINO Marlon Tapales came into his IBF and WBA super bantamweight title showdown with previously unbeaten Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev as an overwhelming +350 underdog.
The 31-year-old proud son of Tubod, Lanao del Norte proved all the oddsmakers wrong.
Banking on a strong start, Mr. Tapales weathered a shaky finish and eked out a split decision victory over Mr. Akhmadaliev to unify the IBF-WBA 122-pound crown yesterday at the Boeing Center in San Antonio, Texas in the United States.
Mr. Akhmadaliev, who came off from a hand injury, fell to 11-1.
It was the fourth straight win for Mr. Tapales and 37th overall including 19 by knockouts against three defeats.
And this was definitely the biggest in Mr. Tapales’ career as he became the second pug from this archipelagic nation to emerge world champion this year since Melvin Jerusalem stopped Japanese Masataka Taniguchi in the second round to snatch the WBO world minimum weight title last January in Osaka, Japan.
It was also one of the toughest, if not the toughest, results for the former 2016 WBO bantamweight champion as he had to survive a furious fightback by Mr. Akhmadaliev, whose powerfully dangerous finish wasn’t enough to overhaul Mr. Tapales’ lead built from the latter’s mighty start.
Mr. Tapales used his stinging jabs and jarring uppercuts to gain the early upper hand that served as cushion when his Uzbek rival went on a late rampage that successfully lured the Filipinos to a brawl that went the latter’s way.
But when the smoke of the 12-round battle dissipated, it was Mr. Tapales who ended up victorious as he earned scores of 115-113 from two judges while one gave Akhmadaliev 118-110.
The feat lined up Mr. Tapales against the winner between Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton, who were scheduled to dispute the WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles in July. — Joey Villar