The moment the final bell rang, Marlon Tapales knew his fate—and it wasn’t what he wanted.
The former unified champion lost a unanimous decision to Yukinori Oguni on Good Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, and it was a result that few saw coming. The judges scored it 96–94, 97–93, and 98–92, all for Oguni, who entered the fight as a heavy underdog.
Tapales Comes Out Swining, Oguni Responds
The Filipino prizefighter came out sharp. He controlled the early rounds, dictated the pace, and looked like the better fighter. Then the body shots started.
Beginning in the middle rounds, Oguni began targeting the body with thudding consistency, and it showed. Tapales slowed. His timing got off. In the seventh, one particularly vicious shot nearly buckled the Filipino. He recovered, but he wasn’t the same fighter after that as Oguni’s jabs and sharp straights began finding their mark with increasing regularity the rest of the way.
The fight ultimately ended going in Oguni’s way, giving the Japanese his biggest victory to date while handing Tapales a humbling defeat.
A Big Setback for Tapales
The loss stings beyond the result itself. Tapales, 34, drops to 41–5 and is almost certain to slide in the world rankings. Prior to the fight, the Filipino had been rated in the top 3 across three of the four major sanctioning bodies heading into the fight. After this lost, he will probably be a peg lower and on the outside looking in as far as title contention is concerned.
For Oguni, 37, the win does the opposite—it keeps his title shot hopes alive at 24–4–3. At his age, he needed this. He got it. Tapales, on the other hand, will have to climb a mountain back to boxing relevance.
