Newly crowned WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani would love a battle against Naoya Inoue following his big win over Filipino Vincent Astrolabio, where he showed immense power and intense aggression.
The undefeated Nakatani whose ring record now reads (28-0, 21 knockouts) landed a straight left hand to the body of Astrolabio (19-4, 14 KOs) who crushed to the canvas to short-circuit the scheduled twelve round championship bout.
The win earned Nakatani his first WBC 118 pounds title defense.
“I thought this was going to be a long fight,” said the three-division titlist. “Luckily I landed that punch early to end the fight.”
During the post-fight, Nakatani expressed his desire to face Naoya Inoue, “I would like to unify the titles or move up to [122] to win the championship there,” he said. “The fight with Naoya Inoue is the one I really want. A lot of people are really expecting this fight. I will continue to get stronger and will be ready for that fight,” Nakatani affirmed.
In his last outing, the " Japanese Monster " was at his usual destructive best: extirpating Luis Nery in six ; leading by 48-44 on all three score cards at the time of the stoppage.
Nery, though, didn't go down without a fight. He was so emphatic of victory prior to the fight and almost got the upset in the very opening round when he knocked down Inoue.
Inoue came back and knocked down Nery in the second, fifth and sixth rounds enroute to the stoppage.
A bold step it is for Nakatani to call out the dreaded Inoue.
But that knockdown by Nery has really exposed some chinks in Inoue's armour and the " Monster " should be more cautious going forward; especially with talks of moving up to fight Gervonta " Tank" Davis - which would be a very bad choice.
Considering the fact that Nery dropped Inoue, Davis would totally maul him.
A fight between Nakatani and Naoya Inoue though, should a very entertaining affair.
With Inoue facing TJ Doheny on September 3, 2024 : let's wait and see what the future holds.
By Samuel Opoku Amoah
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