JAPAN’S dominance in the bantamweight division is well known, holding three of the four belts at 118lbs, but now Junto Nakatani seeks individual supremacy in the division as he meets Ryosuke Nishida in a unification bout this Sunday.
After debuting at flyweight in 2015, Nakatani, 30-0 (23 KOs), has now proven himself to be a pound-for-pound talent by excelling and claiming world titles in three weight divisions, but he still remains somewhat in the shadows of Japanese poster boy Naoya Inoue, 30-0 (27 KOs).
At bantamweight, Nakatani picked up the WBC title on his debut at the weight by halting Alexandro Santiago and has defended the strap with three wins inside the distance in the 12 months that followed.
Now, amid rumours that Nakatani will move up to super-bantamweight for a legendary showdown with Inoue next year, ‘Big Bang’ bids to first establish himself as the top dog in the bantamweight division before what would be considered as the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
This weekend Nakatani is tasked with facing IBF titleholder, Ryosuke Nishida, 10-0 (2 KOs), who overcame former flyweight world champion Daigo Higa in just his fourth professional bout, after debuting in 2019.
Last May, Nishida outpointed Emmanuel Rodriguez to get his hands on the IBF crown and the 28-year-old southpaw has made one defence since, scoring a rare stoppage win against Thailand’s Anuchai Donsua in December.
Although Nakatani enters the contest as a sizeable favourite, the fact that Nishida is just the second fellow lefty that he has faced in his last 12 fights will present a new kind of challenge for the hard-hitting WBC champion.
JUNTO NAKATANI VS RYOSUKE NISHIDA FIGHT PREDICTION
It is extremely difficult to envision anything other than a Nakatani win here, with Nishida’s elusiveness lacking and the power of the favourite placing him amongst the peak of the pound-for-pound punchers in the sport.
Still, Nishida is one of the toughest opponents for Nakatani in his career so far and the unusual southpaw versus southpaw occurrence could see the contest prolonged and cause a slighter slower start than normal.
As a result, Nakatani can get a stoppage win in the second half of the fight, opting for a Nakatani KO/TKO between rounds 7-12.
