The boxing world will come to a halt this Saturday, Could 2, because the Tokyo Dome performs host to what many are already calling the “Struggle of the Century” for Japanese boxing. “The Monster,” Naoya Inoue, will put his WBA Tremendous Championship and undisputed junior featherweight crown on the road towards the unbeaten and rangy Junto Nakatani in a conflict of epic proportions—pitting two of the game’s pound-for-pound elite towards each other.
At 33 years outdated, Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) enters the seventh protection of his undisputed reign on the absolute peak of his powers. Having already swept by way of two divisions, the Japanese famous person now faces a challenger who brings a set of bodily instruments he’s by no means needed to take care of unexpectedly: top, attain, and a extremely polished southpaw stance. Absolutely conscious of the magnitude of the problem—on the exact same stage the place Mike Tyson shockingly misplaced his unbeaten file a long time in the past—Inoue made his mindset crystal clear: “There’s just one factor—I’m right here to win,” the champion said in the course of the official press convention on the Tokyo Dome Resort.
Throughout the ring, Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) is chasing historical past, aiming to seize a world title in a fourth weight class after reigning at mild flyweight, flyweight, and bantamweight. Following a profitable debut at 122 kilos final December, many analysts consider he possesses the precise type to hassle Inoue—due to his command of distance and his harmful counter left hand. Regardless of getting into because the underdog, Nakatani is way from overmatched.
Inoue will look to depend on his trademark explosiveness, vicious physique hooks, and his uncanny capacity to shut distance within the blink of an eye fixed. Nakatani, three inches taller with a attain benefit, will purpose to determine an extended jab to maintain “The Monster” at bay whereas organising his surgical left hand—a weapon that has triggered Inoue actual points in previous encounters with fellow southpaws.
