Former unified world super-bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales made good in his fight on Sunday night by stopping Indonesian Jon Jon Jet at the end of the third round at Venue 88 in General Santos City.
The victory only assured the Filipino southpaw of his lofty place in the world ratings as he waited for the call-up to fight for the title.
The referee called a halt to the contest as the Indonesian’s camp asked that the fight be stopped.
Towards the end of the third canto, Tapales smashed Jet’s face, leaving the overmatched visitor nicknamed “Triple J” with a broken nose.
If Tapales stays on track, he will be tapped to vie for one of the soon-to-be-vacated thrones in the 122-pound class.
That’s going to happen once Japanese pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue finally decides to invade the featherweight ranks, leaving all four major sanctioning bodies without a champion in the division.
That’s going to take place towards the end of the year or in early-2026.
Tapales was briefly the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titleholder and Inoue took them away when they rumbled in December 2023 in Tokyo.