Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani clashed in one in all the most important boxing fights in recent times, on the Tokyo Dome.
This Saturday on the Tokyo Dome in Japan, Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani clashed in an enormous undisputed super-bantamweight title fight.
Each fighters headed into their highly-anticipated clash at 32-0 and the fight was arrange last December once they each competed on the identical card in Saudi Arabia.
After already having captured titles at flyweight and bantamweight, this marked ‘Big Bang’ Nakatani’s first fight at super bantamweight.
If Turki Alalshikh calls you, what’s the one dream fight you most need to see in 2026.
Tell us which matchup is at the highest of your wish list within the comments.
Inoue vs Nakatani result
From the opening bell, the anticipation within the Tokyo Dome was palpable as each fighters tentatively engaged without an excessive amount of motion.
‘The Monster’ was the one to steal the eyes of the judges, as he does so well, at the top of the round with a transient acceleration and a couple of right hands landing to the body.
The motion in round two heated up a bit of bit as Nakatani had barely more success, landing a couple of decent body shots together with his left hand.
Through the primary three rounds, it was clear that each fighters were terrified of the ability one another possesses, as they each looked to get their jabs firing.
It wasn’t until the fourth round when the most important shot of the fight to date was landed when Inoue landed a jab to the body, followed by an enormous right hand upstairs, landing clean on the challenger.
Midway through the fight, it seemed as if the 28-year-old grew in confidence, starting to be more positive together with his combos, landing his left hand more often.
In round seven, ‘Big Bang’ really ramped up his speed as he began to place the pressure on the undisputed champion, landing several combos.
The tempo of the fight was raised considerably in round eight which saw essentially the most motion as Nakatani once more had positive moments, putting the champion on the back foot.

The challenger appeared to be taking up the fight in round nine, shocking the 55,000 fans in attendance as he began to imagine he could pull off the upset.
In round 10 an unlucky accidental head clash opened up an enormous cut across the left eye of Nakatani, leading to a transient stoppage because the doctor checked the importance of it. Fortunately, the fight continued shortly after.
After potentially losing a couple of rounds in a row, ‘The Monster’ turned up the warmth within the eleventh round as Nakatani’s cut leaked into his eye, causing an issue for him.
The undisputed champion finished the fight strong with one other close round within the twelfth and after a highly competitive fight, Inoue was awarded the 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 unanimous decision win.
Receive a digest of our greatest Bloody Elbow content each week direct to your mailbox


