Boxing fans are really getting enthusiastic about Junto Nakatani.
You might tell within the buildup to this weekend’s card. It was a powerful one, headlined by Takuma Inoue (brother of Naoya) vs Jerwin Ancajas for a title in the identical (bantamweight) division and in addition featuring Kosei Tanaka. But all of the hype, all of the preview articles (including BE’s own Blaine) focused on Nakatani’s bout with Alexandro Santiago, as he stepped up from Superfly to challenge for Santiago’s bantamweight title.
We’re much more excited now, if anything. Nakatani was mostly expected to win, but Santiago was seen as an ungainly, tough opponent, difficult to interrupt down. As an alternative, he looked levels below, outclassed for five rounds before being blown away within the sixth.
Let’s take a have a look at just why you, too, must be following the profession of Nakatani.
The breakdown: what makes Junto Nakatani so good
The very first thing you’ll notice about Junto Nakatani is that he’s huge. Despite this being a brand new division for him- his second step up, having began at flyweight- he towered over Santiago. And he uses that size advantage in all the appropriate ways.
The second thing you’ll notice is his lead right (as a southpaw) hand. It’s among the best in modern boxing. He uses it not only to throw a classic clean jab, but for all types of things. He blinds his opponent by hanging it on the market, brushes aside the guard with cuffing shots, and when he does double or triple it, the second and third will often be delivered in another way to the primary. He’s, to place it mildly, extremely dexterous and very varied with it.
That makes it very hard for opponents to get past it to deliver their very own work – which could be bad enough. Nakatani uses that, though, for the second a part of his game. Once they do approach- actually because he’s deliberately paused his jab, knowing they need to take that opening- he has a left hand able to intercept. And that left hand is just nearly as good as his jab.
Sometimes, it’s a pointy straight that tags opponents as soon as they get into range. Sometimes, he lets them get close and delivers an uppercut, easily and cleanly while stepping backwards. Sometimes it’s a giant looping step-in shot aiming for max power (though because the commentary team identified during this fight, this carries risk and he often saves it for later in fights).
He can go to move or body, too. All this could include a wide range of angles and timings- sometimes it’s an on-beat 1-2, sometimes he breaks the timing, sometimes he doubles the jab and steps in behind it, sometimes not. And, if it’s protected to achieve this, he’ll follow up with the appropriate again, delivering smooth mixtures before stepping away again.
In brief, regardless that Junto Nakatani’s game is kind of easy to describe- he’s going to jab at range then throw the left because the range closes- it’s almost unattainable for opponents to read. The indisputable fact that, in the event that they go backwards, he’s quite pleased to shut range himself and capable at opening up gaps with throwaway shots doesn’t help. There isn’t a protected range for Nakatani’s opponents. In truth, often, once they do get in close (Santiago never really did, but other opponents have done), they find he’s just nearly as good there, whipping in uppercuts and close-range hooks.
Santiago had precisely one decent moment- a solid left hand at the tip of the second as Nakatani tried to counter his approach. Even there, though, replays show that though Santiago got there first, he took almost nearly as good a shot in return, so it’s hard to say how much he even got out of it- and he never got near repeating the trick again.
The finish: How Junto Nakatani got it done
The ending got here in two parts- the primary knockdown after which a final flurry that put Santiago down again and drew the towel from his corner. The one led to the opposite, in fact, but they were two very different actions that highlight Nakatani’s variation, so let’s take them individually after the highlight clip of each below.
The primary knockdown is a display of quick pondering. Nakatani flicks out a jab and throws a looping left behind it. Santiago reads it well and rolls under it- but as he pops back up, Nakatani is already stepping forward. That implies that where Santiago is expecting time to reset, Nakatani is closer than expected, and the Mexican can do nothing with the follow-up 1-2 and geese right into the straight left. It’s not even a very hard shot, however the timing puts Santiago on his backside.
The follow-up is proof that Nakatani doesn’t fall right into a trap that some precision fighters do. That’s, they refuse to let shots go that aren’t completely clean, giving up solid, protected opportunities to land- you sometimes see fighters like that allow the right be the enemy of the nice.
Not so Nakatani. Once he sees that Santiago continues to be hurt, he jumps on him, and he’s not terribly bothered if all of the shots are delivered with flawless form. First, he sees that the champion is attempting to circle out to his own right, and cuts that escape off with a literal leap while throwing a 1-2, less at Santiago than the space he’s about to be in. He’s actually completely off-balance here- you may see that each his feet are in front of his shoulders at one point, so really any contact could have knocked him down. Santiago is in no position to see that or respond, though.
Nakatani then turns to follow Santiago’s retreat and, to maintain him pondering, throws a leaping jab that leaves his feet behind, before bringing them under him while throwing a right hook that relatively crunches into his opponent’s jaw. While he’s recovering from that, Nakatani regains proper balance impressively quickly, after which gives it up again throwing an enormous, sweeping right hook – which (with a delayed response) ultimately drops Santiago and ends the fight.
Would which were protected against a less dazed opponent? Well, no, but that’s the purpose. You don’t see Nakatani take those risks when he shouldn’t- but his awareness and quickness to get well makes him a formidable, dangerous finisher when he does start. Sure, he might sooner or later misjudge a situation and take a lick or two- but it surely’s hard to see many opponents who could draw that out of him.
The Future: what next for Junto Nakatani?
One who could, in fact, is Japanese boxing’s superstar, Naoya Inoue. He currently sits at super-bantamweight, one division above, so it’s not an enormous gap to cross. That said, Nakatani indicated after this fight that he’ll probably stay at bantamweight for some time. He gave up his flyweight and superflyweight titles pretty quickly after simply finding it too hard to make weight, but he suggests that he feels comfortable here, so he might not be in a rush to maneuver up too far too soon.
That leaves us taking a look at unifications. Given they simply fought on the identical card, Takuma Inoue seems makeable (and would add spice to a match with Nayoa in the event that they ever did meet down the road, in fact). Takuma scored a reasonably great knockout of his own, a bodyshot stoppage of Jerwin Ancajas, one other former superfly champ moving up. Takuma hasn’t at all times been a riveting fighter but he’s looked much improved in his last two fights and this bout was an excellent back-and-forth scrap, so the prospect of a unification with Nakatani is enticing.
One other tale of familial revenge is already live and kicking- Nakatani won his superfly title with a KO of the 12 months last 12 months against Andrew Moloney. His twin brother Jason holds the WBO belt and is looking for the Nakatani fight. Emmanuel Rodriguez, the opposite beltholder within the division, can be out there- really, it’s each desirable and achievable that Nakatani looks to unify.
And, if he achieves that, who knows what lies in the longer term for him.
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Lukasz Fenrych
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