NAKATAKDANG idepensa sa unang pagkakataon ni WBO bantamweight champion Marlon “Nightmare’”Tapales ang kanyang korona kay dating Japanese champion Shohei Omori sa isang rematch sa Abril 23 sa Kyoto o Osaka, Japan.
Ito ang unang laban ni Tapales mula nang malampasan ang dalawang knockdown sa 5th round para mapatulog ang dating kampeong si Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu sa 11th round noong nakaraang Hulyo 27 sa Ayutthaya,Thailand.
“The fight is a go. I received the contract last Tuesday night and signed it just this morning (Wednesday),” sabi ng promoter-manager ni Tapales na si Rex “Wakee” “It took me quite a while to seal a deal because I want nothing but the best for Tapales,” aniya.
Maraming alok kay Tapales tulad ng depensa kay Briton Ryan Burnett at Aussie Andrew Moloney pero mas pinili ni Salud ang rematch kay Omori na ranked No. 11 contender sa WBO rankings.
Goodbye PBA? John Amores, tinanggalan na ng professional license!
“I received several offers from around the world for his first defense, including from England and Australia but we opted for Japan because I feel that’s the best for my boxer,” sabi ni Salud .
hinggil kay Omori na tatlong beses pinabagsak ni Tapales sa 1st round bago pinatulog ng Pinoy boxer eksaktong 1:35 ng 2nd round sa kanilang WBO eliminator bout noong Disyembre 16, 2015 sa Shimazu Arena sa Kyoto, Japan.
Ngunit nakabawi si Omori sa tatlong sunod na panalo kina ex-Indonesian flyweight titlist Espinos Sabu (KO 4), dating world rated Edgar Jimenez ng Mexico (KO 3) at two-time world title challenger Rocky Fuentes ng Pilipinas (KO 3).
(Gilbert Espeña)
