Naoya Inoue bids to become a two-weight undisputed king as he faces Marlon Tapales in Tokyo, with all the marbles at 122 pounds on the line.
The Japanese superstar can join Terence Crawford as the only male fighters in the four-belt era to become undisputed champion of the world in two weight classes, having already cleaned up at bantamweight last year.
Standing in the way of the pound-for-pound phenom (25-0, 22 KOs) on Boxing Day is Tapales of the Philippines (37-3, 19 KOs), who collected his WBA Super and IBF straps by defeating Murodjon Akhmadaliev on a split decision in April of this year.
Inoue has also fought once in 2023 for the WBO and WBC belts, dismantling Stephen Fulton inside eight rounds in July.
The Sporting News will provide live updates throughout the day below.
WATCH: Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales, exclusively on ESPN+
Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales live updates, results, highlights5:05 p.m. ET/ 7:95 p.m JST: The Japanese bantamweight title fight had started to become a bit of a slog forTsutsumi by the fourth round, as he sported a nasty cut above his eye and nursed a deficit on the scorecards. But he flips the script sensationally, throwing the sort of Hail Mary left hook that fighters with impaired vision are more likely to decide to throw the dice with. It caught Anaguchi right on the button and he tumbled under the follow-up assault. The younger man beat the count but was have a fight on our hands.
4:45 p.m. ET/ 6:45 p.m JST: Ringwalks for our co-main event have just concluded. It's an all-Japanese bantamweight showdown between Seiya Tsutsumi and Kazuki Anaguchi
4:30 p.m. ET/ 6:30 p.m JST: Inoue is backstage having his hands wrapped, with just our chief support to come before the main event. Stephen Fulton cast aspersions about the legality of Inoue's wraps, accusing the Japanese superstar of "stacking". It ultimately amounted to pre-fight mind games, with Inoue's wraps passed as expected. The wisdom of Fulton potentially making Inoue mad was deeply questionable as he suffered an eight-round beatdown. In a weight class that some observers felt might be at the limit of Inoue's physical capacity, he took an elite world champion to pieces.
4:05 p.m. ET/ 6:05 p.m JST: Hiraoka finishes the job in round five. Having previously appeared reluctant to mix it too much on the inside with his Mexican foe, Hiraoka switched his attack to the body decisively. The stoppage felt a bit premature if we look at the concluding moments in isolation, but that fight was only going one way. During his post-fight interview, Hiraoka reverts to English from Japanese and tells "all the champions at 140, I'm coming for you, mate."
4:00 p.m. ET/ 6:00 p.m JST: Halfway through this scheduled eight-rounder and it's pretty much one-way traffic. Hiraoka caught Diaz cold in the opener, flooring him with a lead right hook. The home fighter's variety with his lead hand out of the southpaw stance has been very impressive and a defining feature of the fight. A frustration was Hiraoka's apparently reluctance to make his superiority truly tell after round one but, towards the end of the fourth he unloaded some brutal combinations with the increasingly forlorn Diaz against the ropes.
3:40 p.m. ET/ 5:40 p.m JST: Next up we have Inoue's stablemate Andy Hiraoka, a 22-0 super lightweight contender who is boxing for the first time this year. Hiraoka is now working under the watchful eye of Shingo Inoue, having previously been based in America to be coached by Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Roger Mayweather. Mexico's Sebastian Diaz is in the other corner against the rangy southpaw.
Boxing’s stage for a night of legacies ???? #InoueTapales | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/6pPLfrVL7Z
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) December 26, 20233:20 p.m. ET/ 5:20 p.m JST: The main card is underway and Yoshiki Takei has just absolutely erased Mario Diaz with a body shot for a second-round KO. The former kickboxing champion pretty much wound up the shot from downtown Tokyo. Very little subtly in the set-up but no arguing with the results of a long southpaw left hook to the liver that left Diaz rolling and writhing like a man regretting his third helping of Christmas dinner. Takei is campaigning in the same super bantamweight division as today's main event.The win moves Takei to 8-0 under the Queensberry Rules. All of those have come inside the distance.
3:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m JST: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales for the undisputed super bantamweight world championship. Perhaps you're haven't been to bed yet after a day of Christmas excess, or maybe the kids have got you up early to play with their new toys all over again. Either way, stick with us because this is not one you'll want to miss.
How to watch Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales: TV channel, live stream Region TV channel Live streaming USA ESPN ESPN+ Canada — TSN+ UK and Ireland Sky Sports Darts Sky GO Australia — TBC Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales price: How much does the fight cost?You can pay $10.99 for a monthly subscription to ESPN+ or buy an annual subscription for $109.99.
Product Prices ESPN+ Monthly Subscription $10.99/mo ESPN+ Annual Subscription $109.99/yr The Disney Bundle w/Hulu Ad-Supported $14.99/mo The Disney Bundle w/Hulu No-Ads $24.99/mo What time is Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales today? Region Date Main Card Start Time Main Event Ring Walks (approx.) USA and Canada (ET) Tuesday, December 26 3 a.m. ET 6 a.m. ET USA and Canada (PT) Tuesday, December 26 12 a.m. PT 3 a.m. PT UK and Ireland Tuesday, December 26 8 a.m. GMT 11 a.m. GMTAustralia
Tuesday, December 26 7 p.m. AEDT 10 p.m. GMT Naoya Inoue vs. Marlon Tapales full card Naoya Inoue (c) vs. Marlon Tapales (c) for the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles Seiya Tsutsumi vs. Kazuki Anaguchi; bantamweights Andy Hiraoka def. Sabastian Diaz (TKO 5/8); super lightweights Yoshiki Takei def. Mario Diaz Maldonado (KO 2/8); super bantamweights Kanamu Sakama def. John Paul Gabunilas (TKO 5/8); flyweights Fuga Uematsu def. Suguru Ishikawa (TKO 4/4); featherweights Rikiya Sato def. Keisuke Endo (UD 4); super featherweights
