Head coach Rudy Hernandez has recalled the exact moment that Junto Nakatani revealed the level of power he experienced from Naoya Inoue’s punches.
The two Japanese stars squared off in an eagerly-awaited showdown earlier this month, which took place at a sold-out Tokyo Dome in front of roughly 55,000 fans.
As a sizable favourite, many expected Inoue to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight crown, yet his sheer dominance in the early rounds nonetheless came as a surprise to most.
In the end, ‘The Monster’ claimed a clear unanimous decision victory, but was forced to overcome a Nakatani onslaught between rounds seven and 10.
At this point, ‘Big Bang’ suddenly sprang to life after taking a far more measured approach in the previous rounds, appearing to no longer respect the power of his opponent.
According to his trainer, Hernandez, this was a pivotal moment which, if only it had arrived sooner, may have been enough to pinch a razor-thin victory on points.
In any case, the experienced coach has told BoxingScene what Nakatani thought of Inoue’s power, whilst believing that a potential rematch with Inoue would surely go their way, so confident in Nakatani’s ability that he has promised to retire if he is proven wrong.
“If we don’t beat [Inoue] in the rematch, I will never train fighters again. I will retire. I will quit, because I really believe in the rematch we are going to kick Inoue’s butt.
“The moment Junto told me that [Inoue] doesn’t hit that hard, that was a game-changer. I wish he had told me that in the second or third round.”
Hernandez adds that, irrespective of their prior head collision, an Inoue uppercut in round 11 was what ultimately broke Nakatani’s orbital bone.
From there, the three-weight world champion was fighting an uphill battle to even complete the full 12 rounds, let alone pull off a sizable upset.
