Best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet? Japanese ace Inoue claims two-division undisputed status

Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue became just the second man to be a two-division undisputed champion after claiming a 10th-round TKO victory over Marlon Tapales at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) joins Terence Crawford as having achieved the feat in the modern, four-belt era, having unified the four bantamweight belts in 2022 and now the super bantamweight WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA straps across two fights in 2023.

He has not fought a non-title fight since April 2013 and in late 2022 became the No.1-ranked pound-for-pound boxer by The Ring, now sitting No.2 behind Crawford.

Only Inoue, Crawford, Katie Taylor, and Claressa Shields have been undisputed champion in two divisions.

Boxing: INOUE VS TAPALES TUES 26th DEC 7PM AEDT | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports

Tapales upset Murodjon Akhmadaliev in April to become champion on a controversial night where one of the three scorecards went 118-110 Akhmadaliev’s way.

The upset-minded Filipino certainly had his moments but was knocked down twice, in the fourth and 10th rounds, the latter ending the bout.

Australia’s Sam Goodman (17-0) is the No.1 contender in the division with the IBF and WBO and previously declared he wants a shot at the winner in 2024.

WBC mandatory challenger Luis Nery is rumoured to be on the cards for Inoue in May, with the Japanese confirming he is in negotiations for a fight at that time.

FULL FIGHT CARD

Naoya Inoue (c) def Marlon Tapales (c) for the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super bantamweight titles (1:02 into Round 10, TKO)

Seiya Tsutsumi def Kazuki Anaguchi (UD) – Bantamweight

Andy Hiraoka def Sebastian Diaz Maldonado (Round 5, TKO) – Super Lightweight

Yoshiki Takei def Mario Diaz Maldonado (Round 2, KO) – Super Bantamweight