Saurabh Kumar vs Marlon Tapales Preview September 7th, 2024
Former WBA and IBF Bantamweight Champion Marlon Tapales of the Philippines is back in the ring this Saturday, September 7th as he takes on Saurabh Kumar of India in a 10-round tilt over in Cambodia. Tapales will also be putting his WBC Asian Continental Super Bantamweight belt on the line. He won that crown in his last outing when he stopped Nattapong Jankaew in just 135 seconds in May. That was his first fight since being stopped by Naoya Inoue in the 10th round last December to lose his world titles. Kumar last boxed in February when he stopped Shivam Sharma in the fourth round.
Kumar vs Tapales Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Saurabh Kumar +1000
- Marlon Tapales -2000
My Pick
The 32-year-old Tapales makes the ring walk with a record of 38-4 with 20 Ko’s and has boxed 269 rounds since making his pro debut in 2008. He’s been beaten by Brix Ray by stoppage after the sixth round in 2009 in a fight for the Filipino Flyweight Title and dropped a 12-round majority decision to David Sanchez in 2013. He was also stopped by Ryosuke Iwasa in the 11th round in 2019 for the interim IBF Super Bantamweight Title and of course was halted by Inoue.
Since turning pro Tapales has also captured the Filipino Light Flyweight crown as well as the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title. He won the WBO Bantamweight Title in 2016 when he stopped Panya Uthok in the 11th round and then lost it on the weigh scales in his next outing against Shohei Omori despite stopping him in the 11th round. Tapales also owns wins over Armando de la Cruz, Randy Petalcorin, Warlito Parrenas, Richard Olisa, Hayata Kimura, Goodluck Mrema, Eden Sonsosa, Fernando Vargas Perra and Roberto Castaneda.
Tapales measures 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 65-inch reach and as far as power is concerned, he’s about average as 52.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. That being said, he had stopped 10 opponents in a row before going the distance with Akhmadaliev last year so has recorded 11 stoppages in his past 12 wins. Tapales is a fan-friendly boxer due to his tendency to drop or be dropped by his opponents during fights.
The 26-year-old Kumar is basically an unknown who enters the ring with a record of 11-1-1 with 6 Ko’s and has 62 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2020. Unfortunately there’s no height and reach information so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Tapales. As far as power goes, he’s in the same range as Tapales as 54.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including three of his past four.
The lone defeat on his record came at the hands of Zhong Liu by way of seventh-round TKO in a shot at the vacant WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight Belt in August, 2023. His next outing four months later was an eight-round draw with Iarapborsing Kharbani. Kumar is a domestic level boxer who hasn’t faced any body close to Tapales and will be taking a huge step up in class this weekend.
Prediction…
This is basically a keep-busy fight for Tapales as he tries to work himself back into a world title shot. He needs to dominate Kumar to show that he’s still worthy and really needs to stop him to tell the truth. Boxers like Kumar can often be a thorn in the side though but I’m expecting Tapales to take care of business.
Tapales is a couple of classes above the unheralded Kumar.
Play Tapales -2000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Marlon Tapales betting • Saurabh Kumar betting