Marlon Tapales will make his first ring appearance since losing to Naoya Inoue on May 10 when he faces Thai fighter Nattapong Jankaew at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Manila, Philippines.

Tapales (37-4, 19 knockouts), a former two-division champion, will begin his road back to junior featherweight contention in a ten-round bout, with a minor WBC title at stake. Against Jankaew (12-3, 8 KOs), a 27-year-old from Bangkok, he faces an opponent who is coming off a first round knockout of a debuting fighter on March 30. Jankaew won his first ten fights after turning pro in 2019, but has lost three of his last five, including two by stoppage.

Tapales, 32, of Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte in the Philippines, had previously held the WBO bantamweight title from 2016 until 2017, and then won the IBF/WBA junior featherweight titles last April with an upset win over Murodjon Akhmadaliev before losing them last December in an undisputed unification bout in Japan against Inoue.

“I learned a lot from my last fight. I will work hard to become a world champion again,” said Tapales in a media statement.

In the co-featured bout, Reymart Gaballo (27-1, 22 KOs) looks to keep busy with a ten-round bout against Mexican journeyman Kenbun Torres (13-5, 9 KOs). Gaballo, 27, of General Santos City, Philippines, is rated no. 1 at 118 pounds by the WBC, and promoter Jim Claude Manangquil says he expects the WBC to order his mandatory challenge against the winner between titleholder Jason Moloney and Yoshiki Takei after the fight.

Gaballo has won three straight since his lone defeat, a fourth round knockout loss to Nonito Donaire in his first attempt at winning the WBC bantamweight title in 2021. Torres, 36, of Celaya, Mexico is coming off a six-round majority decision win over Chengcheng Yang this past January in Vietnam.

The show, which will air live in the Philippines on One Sports in the Philippines, will be promoted by Sanman Boxing in association with MP Promotions, Knucklehead Boxing and Viva Promotions.