By Ronnie Nathanielsz

WBO bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales spars once a week with unbeaten Hong Kong fighter Rex “The Wonder Kid” Tso at promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud’s Gym in Cebu and according to Salud “is very fit.”

Salud told The Manila Standard that Tapales who won the title with a spectacular 11th round  knockout of Thai champion Pungluang Sor Singyu in the historic city of Ayutthaya, Thailand last July 27 is “mentally and physically fine” as he prepares for his first title defense against unbeaten No. 12 ranked Takuma Inoue of Japan at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on December 30.

Tapales, nicknamed “The Nightmare” was the mandatory challenger and his explosive victory gave the Philippines a fourth world title with the other champions being flyweight Johnreil Casimero, super bantamweight Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire and the longest reigning Filipino world champion Donnie Nietes who relinquished his title to move up to flyweight and face No. 4 ranked Edgar Sosa on Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California.

WBO fight supervisor Leon Panoncillo said the Tapales-Pungluang title fight “was one of the best fights I’ve seen in Thailand” and it was “a very exciting and very competitive fight.”