Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
-
Andres Ferrari
Multiple authors
One of boxing’s elite returns to the ring Saturday in what could be his toughest test yet. Naoya Inoue Defends his undisputed junior featherweight championship against WBC bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani (DAZN, 3 a.m. ET) at the Tokyo Dome.
Nakatani will be making his second appearance at junior featherweight in an all-Japan showdown between two of the sport’s most dangerous punchers. Both are multidivision champions and ranked in between ESPN’s pound-for-pound bestInoue at No. 2 and Nakatani at No. 6 Inoue is one of only three men to go uncontested in two divisions — side by side Alexander Usyk And Terence Crawford — while Nakatani also won junior bantamweight and flyweight titles.
Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) is coming off a dominant finish The decision wins David Picasso In December, with scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 117-111 — his fourth victory of 2025, and entering the fight against Nakatani as a -400 favorite to win, According to DraftKings Sportsbook. On that same card, Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) defeated Sebastian Hernandez by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 118-110 to secure the Inoue matchup.
Can Inoue’s movement and body work neutralize Nakatani’s southpaw power and disrupt his jab?
ESPN asked two former champions and a boxing insider to break down the fight and pick them.
Editor’s note: Content has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Jorge Linares, former three-division champion
matchup
I’ve always been a big fan of Inoue, but I think this is Nakatani’s moment. This is going to be the toughest fight he’s faced in his career so far and I think it’s a fight he can handle. I think it will go the distance, but anything can happen like a knockdown. Perhaps Inoue is going down.
How is Nakatani won?
All he has to do, after all, is box him. Take a risk by throwing multiple punches, but not too many, as Inoue’s reactions are often much faster than his. But he has to box him and be very smart about all the powerful punches Inoue throws.
Specifics for Nakatani are his use of lead jabs and left-hand counter punches. Nakatani is a southpaw, and Ino doesn’t really like fighting left-handers.
How did Inoue win?
Inoue should mainly focus on close range fighting as that is his strength. Inoue is really good at short and mid range. And focus on body punches, like he’s been doing lately. They are brutal.
Inoue doesn’t throw many punches, but the ones he does throw are very powerful. And his timing is also impeccable. It’s impressive, precise, especially counter-attacking.
Who will win?
It’s a tough fight to predict — honestly, it’s 50-50 — and for the first time I seriously questioned whether Ino could lose. I think it’s going to be very close, very close. I’ll go with Nakatani.
Alejandro Santiago, former bantamweight champion, fights Nakatani in 2024
matchup
It’s going to be a good fight. Each fighter has his own style. Nakatani knows how to use his reach really well; He is a long southpaw. And every time Inoue has been knocked down, it’s been in a southpaw position by fighters. Luis Neri and Ramon Cardenas caught him as he switched southpaws, and Inoue crashed into them. And Nakatani is a strong southpaw.
How did Inoue win?
I think Ino should not wait but be aggressive — and do it carefully, very carefully, because Nakatani is really good at maintaining distance and counterattacking. But as we saw with Sebastian Hernandez, for example, in the later rounds, the key is to close that gap on Nakatani and start landing punches. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. did the same when he fought in 2022. Basically, keep Nakatani under pressure. I think Nakatani is weaker under pressure, and that’s what Ino needs to do — go in and attack. Inoue has great timing — you can tell he hits really hard. And we know that Inoue is very smart, so he can outwork Nakatani opponents in the past and win the fight.
When I fought Nakatani, the plan was blow after blow, but it was to keep the pressure on, stay on top of him and hit him from top to bottom.
How is Nakatani won?
I think his game plan will be to keep his distance and land his long power punches, keep Inoue at a distance and try to hit him from there. He’ll want to not let Ino get close, because we know Ino is really dangerous, and once he gets close he can finish the fight.
Nakatani is going to use his reach to his advantage — he knows how to use it really well. The thing is, Inoue will be able to counter punch better. Ino has been knocked down, but, as they say, he’s “The Monster” and he’s going to close that distance and try to make it his fight.
Who will win?
The fight could go either way, as Nakatani hits hard. She might land shots on Ino, but Ino is also very, very smart and can finish the fight. I’m going with Inoue.
Al Bernstein, Hall of Fame boxing commentator
matchup
Although Nakatani wasn’t as impressive last time as he normally is, I think we can see this as a distraction and not read too much into it. So he’s going to be as prepared and ready as he can be for this fight. And whatever the outcome, it would seem almost impossible that — barring a fight cut or some other freak injury — it couldn’t be a very, very good match. Both men are excellent. Perhaps the edge of power goes to Inoue; He is often at a higher weight, already heavier than Nakatani. He may be the wild card in this thing, but Nakatani is a good puncher and certainly a very skilled fighter. So to me, it looks like it’s going to be an almost horrible fight.
How did Inoue win?
I think he will want to land early. I mentioned the power part because usually he was at a higher weight. A lot of times, when we think about it, it can take away from the fact that Eno is one of the best ring technicians, certainly in boxing today and one of the best we’ve seen in a long, long time. He is an excellent ring technician. He can be a real boxer-puncher in this fight. And I think that’s what he wants to be. He wants to try to dictate the pace of the fight, but not in a completely aggressive way. In recent fights, we’ve seen him be tactical in his movement against fighters that he hasn’t knocked down, which isn’t going away. And so I don’t think we’re going to see an Inoue that says, “Well, I’m going to go in there and I’m just going to shoot for the knockout and really try and impose my will on him completely because I think he’s coming up in weight and I’m probably the bigger, stronger guy.” I think we’re going to see a boxer-puncher approach from Inoue, which I think is probably a smart idea.
And the right hand is definitely going to be a big weapon for him against Nakatani. We’ll see what makes the difference. But at the end of the day, I think just his strength and the fact that he’s a bit bigger, maybe a stronger guy might be the difference.
How is Nakatani won?
Nakatani has things coming into this fight that definitely make him more than a live underdog. Although Inoue has done very well against other lefties, they have had a couple of good moments against him. Nakatani brings that southpaw stance to the dance. He’s a really good volume puncher, which I think is a real plus against Inoue, because if you can start throwing a lot of punches, you’ll have a chance to stifle some of Inoue’s offense and not let him reset as nicely as he’d like. And I think that could be a key for Nakatani.
There must be many volumes by Nakatani, but smart volumes, obviously. I honestly think we’ll know by the third or fourth round if Inoue’s strength is the difference. If he lands something significant and hits Nakatani, that’s one thing. But beyond that, even if Inoue’s power makes Nakatani a less aggressive and more cautious boxer, I think we’ll find out after round 4 or so. And if not, fasten your seatbelt because this is going to be a great ride however long it lasts.
For Nakatani, it’s kind of important for him to make some kind of offensive statement in the first three or four rounds, whether it’s volume that shuts down some of Inoue’s attacks or a power punch that tells Inoue he’s got some pop. So yes, the start of the fight is important for both. I don’t know if anyone will throw caution to the wind, but I think it’s more important for Nakatani.
Who will win?
I will stick with Inoue. But, of course, Nakatani has a very good chance of winning this fight. I’m going with Inoue because he’s the bigger, probably stronger guy, and he has more ways to win this fight than Nakatani. But I fully expect it to be a competitive and great fight.
