Fans of the lower weight warriors, and the currently all-dominant Japanese bantamweights in particular, will be tuning in this Sunday morning US time, this as the superb Junto Nakatani will face rival 118 pound champ Ryosuke Nishida at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. And it could turn out to be quite a fight.
Nakatani, unbeaten at 30-0(23) and the reigning WBC bantamweight champion, knows Ryosuke, the IBF ruler, very well. Nishida, also unbeaten, this at 10-0(2) has never sparred Nakatani, but the two men know all about each other’s style and approach. These two excellent fighters knew there would be a very good chance they would meet one day.
Nishida sees a shot at greatness—and a tough test ahead
And now Nakatani and Nishida will fight, and Nishida says he is looking forward to facing “the strongest player in this weight class.”
Nakatani – who is, we hope, heading into another, even bigger all-Japanese showdown, this with Naoya Inoue next year – has listened as Nishida has said he is looking at giving the paying fans “a perfect battle” on Sunday.
“I’m really looking forward to fighting against the strongest player in this weight class,” Nishida told The Ring. “I think he is a very strong fighter who is amongst the pound-for-pound best. He can fight at any distance and is strong, but I think his greatest strength is his attacking power. I think that taking a measured and tactical approach against Nakatani is the way to result in a victory for me. I wanted to fight against a strong opponent, and I wanted to fight as a champion before Nakatani possibly went up in weight class. I know we will both be prepared to give our absolute all in the ring. Let’s give the audience, on the day, a perfect battle.”
Can Nakatani stay perfect—or will Nishida break through?
So far in his career, Nakatani has looked almost flawless, the southpaw capable of boxing brilliantly and of being able to take his opponent out with a shot to either head or body. Nishida is no slouch, not at all, and this weekend’s fight could turn out to be a testing fight for both men, while there promises to be a heck of a lot of pure skill on display from both sides. If Nishida, also a southpaw, can become the first man to defeat Nakatani, maybe it will be he who ends up facing “Monster” Inoue in an all-Japanese blockbuster of epic proportions next year.
Pick: I’m going for Nakatani to score a late stoppage win over Nishida, in a quite thrilling battle.
