Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed super-bantamweight titles against Junto Nakatani this Saturday at the Tokyo Dome.
The bout headlines a sold-out show of around 55,000 fans and is widely being billed as the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history, with both men featuring on the current pound-for-pound lists and entering the ring undefeated.
Inoue puts all four major belts on the line at 122lbs, while Nakatani steps up for just his second fight in the division. It’s seen as one of the undisputed champion’s toughest tests in years, with Nakatani bringing range, power and momentum into the fight as he looks to become a four-weight world champion and knock ‘The Monster’ off his perch.
Speaking to ESPN ahead of the historic clash, former three-weight world champion Jorge Linares weighed up the advantages for each man.
“Something specific for Nakatani to do should be using his lead jab and left-handed counterpunches a lot more. Nakatani is a southpaw, and Inoue doesn’t really like fighting left-handers … Inoue doesn’t throw that many punches, but the ones he does throw are very powerful. And his timing is impeccable, too. It’s impressive, precise, especially the counterattack.”
When making his prediction, Linares sided with the underdog to become the first man to beat Inoue.
“This is a tough fight to predict – honestly, it’s 50-50 – and the first time I’ve seriously questioned whether Inoue could lose. I think it’s going to be very close, very close. I’ll go with Nakatani.”