To ensure that his lofty world rating stays intact, Marlon Tapales will return to the ring against Jon Jon Jet of Indonesia on 27 April in General Santos City.

Tapales, formerly the unified world super-bantamweight champion, was supposed to battle Jet this Monday in Cambodia.

But organizers there called a last-minute cancellation, prompting Tapales’ promoter JC Mananquil to come to his rescue.

If he keeps on winning, Tapales will secure another shot at a world crown the moment Naoya “Monster” Inoue moves up to featherweight.

Rated highly by three out of four world sanctioning bodies, the Filipino southpaw has to hurdle past Jet to remain on track.

Assuring that Tapales’ ranking is protected is Sean Gibbons, who heads MP Promotions, the outfit that represents a bevy of Filipino ring talents many of whom are currently training in Las Vegas.