By James Goyder

A 2016 title shot beckons for Marlon Tapales after the Filipino bantamweight put on the best performance of his career to stop Shohei Omori inside two rounds in Kyoto. With the win he earns a shot at the WBO 118 lbs belt currently held by Pungluang Sor Singyu.

Omori was fighting in his hometown but Tapales stunned the fans at the Shimazu Arena on Wednesday evening with three first round knockdowns. The Japanese fighter was significantly taller and began pumping out jabs as soon as the fight began but this strategy played straight into the hands of the Filipino.

Tapales kept a tight guard and his head movement left the jabs of fellow southpaw Omori consistently finding nothing but fresh air. Barely 30 seconds had elapsed in the round when the Filipino ducked under a punch and countered with a looping overhand left to put the Japanese fighter down for the first time in his career.

Omori was immediately up on his feet and didn’t seem badly hurt but Tapales smelled blood and began to move in for the kill, pressing forwards and looking to land big left hands. It was the right hand which did the damage as the Filipino again ducked under a jab and this time connected with an uppercut for knockdown number two.

Replays showed that Tapales had started to throw an uppercut and changed his mind mid shot, turning the punch into a powerful jab. It was unorthodox but highly effective and sent an off balance Omori stumbling backwards and eventually down.

The Japanese fighter beat the count for a second time but he was in big trouble and allowed Tapales to back him onto the ropes where a cross followed by another right uppercut from close range connected for the third knockdown of the fight.

There was well over a minute remaining in the round and Omori was in survival mode and would have been mightily relieved to hear the final bell. At the start of the second stanza the Japanese fighter seemed to have recovered some of his composure but Tapales was understandably confident and stuck to the game plan.

He easily evaded Omori’s jabs with clever head movement while looking for openings to land left hands of his own. In the end it was Tapales’ right hook that did the decisive damage as he made the undefeated Japanese fighter miss with a two punch combination and then connected clean to the chin for knockdown number four.

Omori beat the count again but was on unsteady legs and with Tapales looking to close the show the referee stepped in to save him from further punishment. It represented a devastating loss for a fighter who loses his perfect professional record, drops to 15-1 and misses out on a title shot.

By contrast Tapales now has the boxing world at his feet after a career defining win which takes him to 28-2 and potentially sets up an encounter with WBO bantamweight title holder Pungluang. The Thai has a title defence against Filipino Jetro Pabustan booked for January 15th.