It’s been no secret that a bout between Japan’s two biggest names has long been in the works.
And, according to The Ring, the brand for which the show’s name will fall under, the undisputed super bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue will defend his titles against three-weight ruler Junto Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome on May 2.
Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) headlined The Ring V: Night of the Samurai with a comprehensive unanimous-decision victory against David Picasso on Dec. 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This, combined with other big wins over Stephen Fulton, Nonito Donaire (twice), and Luis Nery, among many others, elevated him higher in the rankings of the world’s best boxers.
Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) joined the Riyadh undercard to make his super bantamweight debut in an attempt to build towards a fight with Inoue.
However, Nakatani was much less convincing in victory than his compatriot, squeezing out a much closer scored unanimous-decision victory against Sebastian Hernandez.
Nakatani’s earlier exploits included wins over Andrew Moloney, Alejandro Santiago, and Sebastian Hernandez.
The event will take place at the Tokyo Dome, which is considered the most prestigious arena in Japan with a capacity of 55,000 spectators.
It will be Inoue’s second fight at the venue where the pound-4-pound superstar defeated Luis Nery by 6th round TKO nearly two years ago.
