Tapales right on track for title defense

Keeping his weight in check is of utmost concern for Marlon Tapales.

A week before flying to Osaka for his first defense of the World Boxing Organization bantamweight (118 pounds) crown against Japanese Shohei Omori on April 23, Tapales made sure that he won’t go past 124 pounds.

That’s because temperature is dropping in Japan at this time and it would be hard to shed weight.

“It’ll be a bit cold when we get to Osaka on the 17th so my weight should already be in check during our departure,” said Tapales, who’ll be accompanied by manager Rex “Wakee” Salud and trainers Fernando Ocon and Brix Flores.

Tapales, who holds a 29-win, 2-loss record, is already winding down his training for his rematch against Omori (18-1), the lone loss coming at the hands of the Filipino via second round stoppage on Dec. 16, 2015.

Since then, however, Omori has posted three straight knockout victories and is bent on proving that Tapales’ victory was a fluke.

“It would be foolish to look beyond Omori,” said Salud. “Remember, we are fighting on hostile ground.”