Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super-bantamweight championship with a close but uncontroversial 12-round unanimous decision over Junto Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night. Before a sellout crowd of about 55,000 spectators, Inoue won by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 to retain the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts at 122lb, extending his perfect record in what had been billed as the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
The four-division world champion, nicknamed the Monster, had spoken during fight week about wanting to prove that he is still Naoya Inoue, perhaps a nod to whispers of his purported decline. But the 33-year-old showed why he remains one of the world's best fighters regardless of weight by getting the better of a taller, longer, younger challenger seen as his most dangerous opponent in years.
From the opening bell, Inoue imposed himself with a sharp jab that allowed him to slip inside and disrupt Nakatani's rhythm. The challenger spent much of the early rounds on the back foot, and all three ringside judges scored the first four rounds for Inoue. The fight settled into a tactical rhythm through the middle stages, with Nakatani appearing reluctant to commit fully, while Inoue gradually increased the pace, landing the more telling shots.
Nakatani surged in the ninth and tenth rounds, backing Inoue up and landing punishing blows. However, an accidental clash of heads left Nakatani with blood streaming down his face. Inoue then reasserted control, landing a heavy right hand and a crisp uppercut that snapped the challenger's head back. With blood from the cut increasingly affecting Nakatani, Inoue finished strongly to secure the victory.
After the fight, Inoue said: 'I'm 33 now and I was fighting against a Japanese fighter who's coming up in the pound-for-pound rankings, so I was determined not to lose. It was different to the fights I've had before, with the pressure. So I'm relieved that I won.' Nakatani later explained his passive opening, saying: 'Naoya is quite a good learner. He learns a lot in such a short period of time. I didn't want to disclose everything I had in the early rounds, so that's why I fought that way.'
