Junto Nakatani has confirmed that his next bout will be at super-bantamweight and that he will relinquish the WBC and IBF titles he captured at 118 lbs. The unbeaten southpaw from Sagamihara, now 31-0 (24 KOs), revealed the decision during a recording for WOWOW’s Excite Match SP that will air on 11 August, alongside a replay of his June stoppage of Ryosuke Nishida.
Standing 5-ft-8 and already a three-division champion (flyweight, super-fly, bantam), Nakatani admitted the struggle to remain at bantamweight has intensified. “I’ll move to super-bantam for my next fight and vacate the bantamweight titles,” he said. “Building my physique is key; then I must feel how the extra weight translates in the ring.”
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The 26-year-old has strung together five consecutive knockouts since debuting at 118 lbs last year, culminating in his sixth-round demolition of Alexandro Santiago in February and the unification win over Nishida four months later. With no realistic path to further unifications at bantamweight, attention has turned to the glamour division above—home to undisputed king Naoya Inoue.
Industry whispers point to a potential Nakatani-Inoue showdown next May, provided Inoue 30-0 (27 KOs) comes through his September 14 defence against former unified champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev 14-1 (11 KOs) and a rumoured December outing versus Mexico’s Alan David Picasso 32-0-1 (17 KOs).
Nakatani will make his 122-lb debut later this autumn in what will be his first non-title bout since a ten-round decision over Francisco Rodríguez in November 2022.
Image Credit: WBC