Wainwright weighs in on Junto Nakatani and the ‘Japantamweights’

Junto Nakatani needed just 157 seconds to vanquish his WBC bantamweight mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio at the Ryogoku Sumo Arena in Tokyo on Saturday.

The three-weight world titleholder thrilled a sold-out crowd of 8,000 when he threw a quick right jab and that caught Astrolabio on the gloves and then delivered a straight left that landed square on the naval and sent the Filipino challenger down to his knees, visibly in pain. He attempted to rise but quickly dropped back to his knees and was counted out by referee Thomas Taylor.

It was quite the performance from Nakatani (28-0, 21 knockouts), The Ring’s No. 1-rated bantamweight, who was making the first defense of his 118-pound title after moving up from junior bantamweight earlier this year. He looked impressive claiming his third title in as many weight classes when he stopped tough Mexican Alexandro Santiago in six rounds.

It appears to my eyes that Nakatani has improved and taken to the bantamweight division like a duck to water. He’s carried his power up and if anything looks even more devastating. Santiago was stopped for the first time in 37 fights, while Astrolabio for the second time in 24 outings.

A lot of the credit for how Nakatani has evolved should go to the fighter himself for his dedication but also the affable Rudy Hernandez, older brother of the late 130-pound champions Genaro Hernandez, who has trained Nakatani in Los Angeles since the now 26-year-old southpaw was 15. Both know each other inside out and have each other’s trust. Maybe the two will be this generation’s Manny Pacquiao-Freddie Roach.

Blitzing Astrolabio, The Ring’s No. 7-rated bantamweight going into the fight, was a clear statement of intent from Nakatani to more than his fellow 118-pounders but also to Naoya Inoue.

Afterward Nakatani said he’d like to unify title and also mentioned Inoue’s name. Currently all the bantamweight and junior featherweight hardware reside in Japan leading some to playfully label the division “Japantamweight.”

It says here Nakatani would be the favorite against anyone at 118 and 122 pounds not named Naoya Inoue.

The bantamweight division in Japan has everything, all four belts, star power, talent, punching power, story lines and pound-for-pound status, making it quite the melting pot.

Ryosuke Nishida (9-0, 1 KO), The Ring’s No. 2-rated bantamweight, is also a tall southpaw with tons of heart as we saw when he dethroned Emmanuel Rodriguez (UD 12) for the IBF title in May.

He suffered some facial injuries in that fight but is now back to full health and was on hand to witness Nakatani’s win on Saturday. He will likely return before the end of the year.

You could see Nishida making it difficult for Nakatani at times, but this looks like one of those matchups where you have one very good fighter and one who is special. Special trumps very good.

Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3-rated bantamweight, has long been in big brother Naoya’s illustrious shadow. He won a world title at the second time of asking last spring picking up the vacant WBA belt against ageless Liborio Solis (UD 12) though he didn’t particularly impress.

He had been due to defend against Jerwin Ancajas last October but suffered a fractured rib and the fight moved to February. Once heeled, Inoue scored arguably the best win of his career stopping Ancajas (KO 9). He’s also since beaten veteran Sho Ishida (UD 12).

If Nakatani could secure a fight with the younger Inoue and beat him it would doubtlessly stoke the fire and the revenge angle to the ultimate fight against big brother.

Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4-rated bantamweight, is very strong, aggressive and a little more difficult to fight than you’d expect as Jason Moloney would attest. Takei held off the late charge of Moloney to claim the WBO title in May.

He will now face Daigo Higa in his maiden defense in what looks like a very exciting shootout tabbed to take place on the undercard of Inoue-TJ Doheny on September 3.

A meeting between Takei and fellow former MMA star turned boxer Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs), who is rapidly improving, would be a particularly interesting matchup and draw even more eyeballs to what is already a white-hot division, particularly in Japan.

There are also a few other notable bantamweights who ply their trade in Japan including unbeaten Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8 KOs), reigning OPBF beltholder Keita Kurihara (18-8-1, 16 KOs), who, despite a middling record, is quite the gunslinger, and former WBC flyweight titlist Higa (21-2-1, 19 KOs), who has re-emerged after losing his title with several wins and is poised for a world title shot.

How about fellow rising superstar Jesse Rodriguez? He’s made quite a name for himself and also has ties to Japan with (Teiken Promotions chairman) Mr. Honda. That would be a mega fight.

Which leads us to…

The Monster 27-0 24KO’s @naoyainoue_410 vs @BoxerJunto 28-0 21KO’s is the biggest Japanese Boxing fight in history. A FIGHT THAT’S BREWING pic.twitter.com/N5eJzq8D3E

— Bible of Boxing (@ringmagazine) July 20, 2024

And what a mouthwatering proposition that would be.

Indulge and humor me here. Imagine if Inoue just keeps doing what he’s been doing and beats Doheny, followed by say Sam Goodman and Murodjon Akhmadaliev, meanwhile Nakatani cleans up at 118 against Takuma Inoue, Nishida and Takei to become undisputed bantamweight champion.

All roads would lead to each other. Now if Inoue has already sold out the Tokyo Dome against Luis Nery, imagine how big a fight would be with his countryman with fierce local bragging rights on the line would be?

Of course that’s in a perfect world. Ee don’t live in one and boxing is far from one, but just imagine if a scenario similar to that plays out and we see both Japanese stars meet.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on
Twitter@AnsonWainwright

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