The long-awaited all-Japan showdown between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani is almost at the finish line.
Inoue and Nakatani are closing in on a May 2 clash at Japan’s Tokyo Dome for Inoue’s undisputed super bantamweight crown, with an announcement understood to be imminent.
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“In May of this year, at the Tokyo Dome, I will have a serious clash with Junto Nakatani,” said Inoue, via translation, at the recent Japanese Boxing Awards. “I seriously hit it. Everyone, please be sure to witness each other’s bravery.”
A fight between Inoue and Nakatani has been talked about for several years. Those conversations were ignited when Nakatani announced his move up to super bantamweight this past August.
The pair shared a card in December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Inoue defeating David Picasso by unanimous decision and Nakatani edging Sebastian Hernandez Reyes in a 12-round slugfest.
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The expectation going into the card was that the Japanese pair would clash in 2026. Inoue called out Nakatani for a showdown after his win over MJ Akhmadaliev in September, and Nakatani was more than willing to accept the challenge.
Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs), a four-division world champion, had a very active 2025. He fought four times, winning all four fights. Inoue tasted the canvas in a May Fight of the Year contender with Ramon Cardenas, but produced one of the best technical performances of his career against Akhmadaliev in the following fight.
Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) recorded three fights last year and was successful in all of them, including a WBC and WBO bantamweight title unification bout with Ryosuke Nishida. Nakatani, a hard-hitting and tall southpaw, is considered by many to be the man who could hand Inoue his first career defeat.
Inoue is Uncrowned’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer, while Nakatani sits on the list at No. 6. The pair have identical 32-0 records, although Inoue has three more knockouts to his name.
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