NAOYA Inoue is proving himself to be one of the standout fighters of this generation, dominating the lower weight-divisions with both destructive power and technical superiority, unquestionably becoming Japan’s greatest ever fighter in the process.
However, over the past six months, there has been an increasing demand to stage a showdown between Inoue and fellow pound-for-pound contender and compatriot, Junto Nakatani, and today the Japanese duo shook hands on a proposal to make the fight happen.
Whilst Inoue, 29-0 (26 KOs), has become a four-division world champion, Nakatani, 30-0 (23 KOs), has conquered three, currently reigning as the WBC bantamweight champion having knocked out all four of his opponents since moving up from super-flyweight.
With Inoue’s 2025 already mapped out, Nakatani seems intent on following in the footsteps of ‘The Monster’ and unifying the belts at 118lbs, where all four belts are held by Japanese fighters (WBA – Seiya Tsutsumi, WBO – Yoshiki Takei & IBF – Ryosuke Nishida), during the remainder of the year.
Yet, at today’s Japanese Boxing Commission awards ceremony, Inoue appeared to take Nakatani’s success in those potential bouts for granted, asking his rival to “liven up Japanese boxing [and fight him] at the Tokyo Dome one year from now”, to which Nakatani responded “let’s do it.”
Although the finer details still need ironing out, an on-stage agreement between the two undefeated powerhouses can only be a good thing for the likelihood of witnessing what would have to be considered as the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing.
Nevertheless, the obvious stumbling block for their encounter is the weight, especially considering reports that Inoue will move up to featherweight later in the year and possibly challenge for a belt at 126lbs upon his touted December debut.
As a result, Nakatani could be forced to jump up two weight-classes in order to stage a must-see potential featherweight world title affair if the pair do indeed come to blows in 12 months’ time.
Thankfully, the stature and size of the southpaw sensation, who stands three inches taller than Inoue despite fighting in the weight-class below, would make this a less arduous task for Nakatani than it would be for his fellow bantamweights.
Alternatively, Inoue could opt to delay his move to featherweight and attempt to defend his undisputed super-bantamweight title against Nakatani in the fight that follows his rumoured September scrap with Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
