PICK: NAOYA INOUE VS. MARLON TAPALES

By: Jay Calderon

On Tuesday, December 26, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, and live on ESPN, unified Jr. Featherweight champions Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales will both look to become undisputed champions at 122 pounds.

Inoue (25-0, 22KOs) has remained perfect as a professional since his debut back in October of 2012. Most recently, Inoue debuted at 122 pounds, where he stopped the previously-undefeated Stephen Fulton to capture the portions of the Jr. Featherweight crown in the process.

Tapales (37-3, 19KOs) has only lost once in his last 17 contests, with that loss coming back in 2019. In his most recent outing, Tapales defeated the previously-unbeaten Murodjon Akhmadaliev to capture two portions of the gold at 122 pounds as well.

Aside from the four titles possessed by the fighters, the vacant Ring world championship will also be on the line.

Check out my pick in the video above.

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