Marlon Tapales stretched his win streak to three with a third round stoppage of Indonesian boxer Jon Jon Jet Saturday at Venue 88 in General Santos City, Philippines.
Former two-division champion Tapales, 40-4 (21 KOs), won the scheduled 10-rounder after Jet, 15-2-1 (12 KOs), remained on his stool after the third round, citing a broken nose. That nose began to spew blood following a right hook counter from Tapales near the end of the third, which led to the fight’s abrupt end.
Tapales, a former WBO bantamweight and IBF/WBA junior featherweight titleholder, is looking to stay busy and bide his time for another opportunity at a world title at 122lbs. The 33-year-old from Lanao del Norte province in the Philippines had his shot at all four belts in late 2023, but lost by 10th round knockout to Naoya Inoue. Now, promoter Jim Claude Manangquil of Sanman Boxing says the plan is to stay busy while awaiting Inoue’s eventual move up to 126lbs.
Tapales is rated no. 2 by the WBC, no. 3 by the IBF and no. 5 by the WBA.
In the co-main event, Joey Canoy, 24-5-2 (15 KOs), won his seventh straight bout, stopping Vietnam’s Minh Phat Sam, 10-6-2 (8 KOs), in the tenth and final round of their strawweight fight.
Canoy, 31, who has yet to challenge for a major world title in his 13-year career despite a career that includes a ten-round upset decision win over current WBC 105lbs champion Melvin Jerusalem, remains ranked no. 3 by the IBF and WBC, no. 8 by the WBO and no. 13 by the WBA at 105lbs.
