Tapales battles Indon KO artist

With a world title already guaranteed provided that he remains active and in winning mode, Marlon Tapales returns to the ring 14 April in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

His opponent — Indonesian Jon Jon Jet — packs a 15-1 win-loss card with 12 knockouts and is out to ruin the Filipino southpaw’s party plans.

But Tapales, former unified world super-bantamweight champion until he slammed into Naoya “Monster” Inoue in 2023, knows he has to be in razor-sharp form.

“I am training very seriously because a loss here is going to backfire,” Tapales said, noting that his lofty world ranking is at stake.

Armed with a 39-2 card with 20 knockouts, the 33-year-old Tapales is ranked No. 2 in the premier 122-pound division by the World Boxing Council, No. 5 by the World Boxing Association and No. 3 by the International Boxing Federation.

Once Inoue decides to move up in weight, Tapales will be called in to contest one of the available vacated titles.

But for it to happen, Tapales has to maintain his stature as one of the leading fighters in the weight class by fighting frequently as possible.

This will mark the second straight time Tapales will see action on Cambodian soil after making his debut there late last year with Phnom Penh as venue of his bout there.