[2] In 2016, Tapales defeated WBO bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu by KO in the eleventh round and won his first world title.

[3][4] On 7 December 2019, Tapales fought Ryosuke Iwasa for the vacant IBF super bantamweight title.

[7] On August 21, 2023, it was reported that Tapales had entered into negotiations with the unified WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue for an undisputed title bout.

[8] The fight is expected to take place at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on 26 December 2023, and would be broadcast by ESPN+ in the United States.

Despite the loss, however, Tapales made history for being the first Filipino boxer to fight for undisputed in the 4-belt era, and the second Asian to do so.