Inoue Defends Titles vs. Nakatani at Tokyo Dome

Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight titles against fellow unbeaten Japanese fighter Junto Nakatani on Saturday at the Tokyo Dome in what is billed as the biggest all-Japanese boxing match in history.

Inoue, a 33-year-old from Yokohama with a perfect 32-0 record including 27 knockouts, holds the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring belts at 122 pounds. The four-division champion most recently outpointed Alan Picasso in a unanimous decision on December 27, 2025, in Riyadh. Nakatani, 28, also enters at 32-0 with 24 knockouts after moving up from bantamweight. On the same card as Inoue's last fight, he defeated Sebastian Hernandez by unanimous decision in his super bantamweight debut, earning this title opportunity. The southpaw holds a three-inch height advantage at 5-foot-8 and a one-inch edge in reach at 68.5 inches over the 5-foot-5 orthodox Inoue.

Both fighters competed on the same Riyadh undercard late last year, setting the stage for this domestic showdown. Inoue has ruled undisputed at bantamweight and now super bantamweight, while Nakatani, a former three-division titlist, brings rangy power punching and counterpunching skills that could test Inoue's aggressive...