Naoya Inoue maintained his status as pound-for-pound superstar and one of the all-time great fighters after beating Junto Nakatani via unanimous decision, in front of 55,000 enthralled fans in Tokyo on Saturday.
In the all-Japanese clash between two unbeaten boxers at a sold-out Tokyo Dome, it would be 33-year-old Inoue who came out on top to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight title.
Despite Nakatani, 328, enjoying the advantage in height (three inches), reach (one inch) and age (five years), knockout merchant Inoue took the honours with a 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 unanimous decision, which was the seventh defence of his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts.
“I would like to show some appreciation for Junto Nakatani for fighting me tonight,” said Inoue said on DAZN after his fifth fight in the last 15 months.
“A year ago at the world ceremony, I called out Junto to fight me one day and a year later it happened.
“I wanted to show you guys that I would be the winner, and I did everything to get the win … I think I need to rest for a little bit.”
“The Monster” now enjoys a phenomenal record of 33 wins without loss, 27 via knockouts, including an undisputed run at bantamweight, as well as previous title victories at light-flyweight and super-flyweight.
But this was a tough test for Inoue against a rangy southpaw who went into the bout also undefeated from 32 fights, with world titles at multiple weights, while being rated No 6 on Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list – Inoue was at No 2.
Considering Nakatani has only fought at this weight once before, he should certainly take heart at having taken a fighter of Inoue's calibre all the way.
It was a tight opening few rounds but Inoue seemed to have the edge, doing a better job at testing Nakatani who remained unable to press home his size advantage.
But the challenger made his mark in the fifth, unloading a flurry of thudding punches on Inoue who responded in the seventh with some big right hands of his own.
Nakatani's coach, Rudy Hernandez, then told his fighter ahead of the eighth that he needed to be more aggressive an let his hands go.
Nakatani tried with varying degrees of success, including an uppercut in the ninth that rocked his opponent.
Nakatani suffered a cut over his right eye following a clash of heads in the following round which did not prevent him from troubling Inoue.
Inoue, though, seemed to find a second wind, landing two clean uppercuts in Round 11, one with each hand as blood from the cut continued to bother Nakatani. But Inoue would show his class and experience by seeing out the bout in style.
The pair embraced after the final bell but it was Inoue who looked more convinced of victory – and the judges would agree.
“This victory is very valuable for me because he is also a big pound-for-pound fighter,” Inoue added. “I will come back to Tokyo to fight for you again. Keep rooting for me.”
