Boxing: Marlon Tapales loses world title for failing to make weight limit

Marlon Tapales has been stripped of his world bantamweight championship ahead of his scheduled title defense against Japan's Shohei Omori when the Filipino fighter failed to make the 118-pound weight limit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday.

Tapales was scheduled to stake his belt against Omori on Sunday.

According to a report by PhilBoxing.com's Dong Secuya, Tapales tipped the scales at 119.75 pounds for the 1st weigh-in, then returned heavier for the second at 119.93 pounds.

Tapales will still fight Omori, but the world title will be vacated if the Filipino wins.

Omori will win the title outright if he emerges victorious.

Boxing analyst Ed Tolentino, who has been monitoring the situation, said Tapales' title defense had originally been scheduled in December but was postponed.

Tolentino said Tapales may have underestimated Omori, a fighter he beat in just 2 rounds in 2015.

"If he saw Omori as a serious threat, he would have whipped himself into shape and weight would not have been an issue," said Tolentino.

"The problem with Tapales' inactivity is that it covered the Christmas season. That is what trainers fear the most because the boxer usually reports back to the gym out of shape.