Filipino Marlon Tapales proved why he earned the right to face Murodjon Akhmadaliev for the world title and won the World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight belt as well as the IBF title on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

Tapales got scorecards of 110-118, 115-113 and 115-113 to defeat the Uzbek in a very close fight with a lot of exchanges that kept the audience in tension during the 12 rounds. 

The Filipino came with a clear plan and that was to throw a lot of punches and look for power shots at all times, a strategy for which he needed an excellent physical condition but with which he kept up and in the end it was enough for the victory. 

He especially took advantage of the first rounds and unsettled the Uzbek to take advantage. He was fast, counterattacked with power and was adding rounds. In the second part of the fight he had to deal with an Akhmadaliev who was already adapted and began to dominate in that stretch, but Tapales was able to hold and maintain the advantage to achieve his desired goal of winning the crowns. 

Tapales convinced and is now the new monarch. His balance is now 37 wins, 3 losses and 19 knockouts. In addition, he broke Akhmadaliev’s undefeated record, who now has 11 wins, 1 loss and 8 knockouts.