Less than three weeks from fight night, Showtime finally has the beginnings of an undercard for its December 11th Nonito Donaire vs. Reymart Gaballo show. Misako Boxing Gym today announced that IBF #3 super bantamweight Hiroaki Teshigawara is set to face #4 Marlon Tapales in a final eliminator, which will put the winner in line to face unified champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Teshigawara (22-2-2, 15 KO), whose only loss since 2012 came by split decision against the world-ranked Ryo Akaho, scored wins over the likes of former title challengers Teiru Kinoshita and Shohei Omori en route to establishing himself as Japan’s best super bantamweight. He last fought in October 2020, stopping Shingo Kawamura in the fourth defense of his OPBF title.
Tapales (34-3, 17 KO) lost his WBO bantamweight title on the scales, and after a few stay-busy fights, challenged Ryosuke Iwasa for the interim IBF title at 112. Iwasa wound up stopping “The Maranding Nightmare” in 11, and Tapales’ only fight since saw him weigh in at 132 for a criminal mauling of the extremely shot Eden Sonsona.
I’ll be surprised if Tapales is the only big-name Filipino outside the main event, but Showtime’s definitely cutting it close.