Marlon Tapales to face IBF, WBA super bantamweight champ Akhmadaliev in April

Former bantamweight world champion Marlon Tapales will finally get a crack at the IBF and WBA world super bantamweight titles when he takes on Murodjon Akhmadaliev on April 8 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Tapales, 36-3 with 19 knockouts as a professional boxer, is the number one contender to the IBF world super bantamweight title of Akhmadaliev. After several postponements, the Filipino pug will finally get a chance to battle the unified champion not just for one, but two of his world titles.

"I am very excited again for this opportunity to fight for not one but two world titles. This is my dream to become world champion again. I will bring pride and glory to the Philippines when I win both the IBF and WBA belts," said Tapales.

Akhmadaliev, meanwhile, is a hard-hitting southpaw from Uzbekistan with a perfect record of 11-0 with 8 knockouts. He last saw action against Ronny Rios in June last year where he won by technical knockout in round twelve.

"I'm happy to be back in the ring. It's been a while, but finally, we're here for an exciting match against a great fighter in Tapales. He's a former champion, we have similar styles, so I am preparing for a tough action-packed fight on April 8," Akhmadaliev said.

The main event of the evening will be headlined by Jesse Rodriguez (17-0, 11KOs), who is dropping down to 112 pounds to fight Cristian Gonzalez (15-1, 5KOs) for the vacant WBO world flyweight title.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News