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Japan will come to a standstill when Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani tangle for the undisputed super bantamweight title at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
Four-weight world champion Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) has ruled at 122 pounds since his phenomenal 2023 wins over Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales.
Inoue has reeled off six wins since then, including notable successes over Luis Nery and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. All the while, Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) was looming as he worked his way through the divisions, becoming a three-weight champion when he stepped up to bantamweight and chalked up five stoppages in as many fights in the 118-pound category.
Nakatani was underwhelming on his super bantamweight debut, eeking out a points win over Sebastian Hernandez on the undercard of Inoue's shutout over David Picasso in December.
Nevertheless, he did enough to finally make this megafight a reality, arguably the biggest event in Japan's proud boxing history.
The Tokyo Dome will also host a stacked undercard, boasting some of the country's other prime boxing talents.
Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani undercard
Here's a breakdown of all the action on the Inoue vs. Nakatani card.
Takuma Inoue vs. Kazuto Ioka
- Division/Weight: Bantamweight
- Inoue record: 21-2
- Ioka record: 32-4-1
- Belts at stake: WBC Bantamweight title
Eternally in his older brother's shadow but a world-class fighter in his own right, Takuma Inoue stars in the chief support bout.
Takuma recovered from losing his WBA bantamweight title to Seiya Tsutsumi in a gruelling October 2024 decision defeat by beating rising star Tenshin Nasukawa to win the vacant WBC crown last time out.
In the other corner is one of Japanese boxing's great warriors. Kazuto Ioka first became a world champion when he knocked out Kittipong Jaigrajang to win the WBC minimumweight title back in February 2011.
A five-year reign as WBO and then WBA super-flyweight champion ended in July 2024 with a unanimous decision loss to IBF king Fernando Martinez. Ioka also lost the rematch before stepping up to bantamweight to knock out Maikel Ordosgoitti in four rounds last December. Ioka turned 37 in March and would be a very popular three-weight world champion if he can prevail in what promises to be an intriguing contest.
Kosuke Tomioka vs. Shogo Tanaka
- Division/Weight: Flyweight
- Tomioka record: 11-4
- Tanaka record: 5-0
- Belts at stake: WBO Asian Pacific Flyweight
This battle for flyweight regional gold could easily turn into a high-octane shootout.
Former amateur standout Tanaka, who amassed a 60-5 record in the unpaid code with an astonishing 21 stoppages, has eased to 5-0 as a pro, with three of those wins coming inside the distance.
Tomioka has been stopped three times in his four defeats, but is on a four-fight winning run and has eight KOs on his ledger.
Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Reiya Abe
- Division/Weight: Featherweight
- Shimomachi record: 22-1-3
- Abe record: 28-4-2
- Belts at stake: N/A
Shimomachi is enjoying an unbeaten run that will tick past 10 years if he can get the job done this weekend.
While there can be questions over the calibre of some of the southpaw's opponents, that cannot be levelled at all-action former world title-challenger Abe.
The 33-year-old has won three and drawn one - all over the distance - since his March 2024 TKO defeat to then IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez.
Yoshiki Takei vs. DeKang Wang
- Division/Weight: Super Bantamweight
- Takei record: 11-1
- Wang record: 11-1
- Belts at stake: N/A
Takei begins his career rebuild after the third defence of his WBO bantamweight title ended in a one-sided TKO loss to Mexico's Christian Medina on the Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev undercard.
China's Wang rebounded from his own maiden career loss to Namibia's Fillipus Nghitumbwa in April 2024 with back-to-back stoppage wins.
Sora Tanaka vs. Jin Sasaki
- Division/Weight: Welterweight
- Tanaka record: 5-0
- Sasaki record: 20-2-1
- Belts at stake: N/A
Another outstanding Japanese amateur talent, Tanaka has not wasted any time since turning over with all five of his victories coming via knockout.
He halted veteran Shoki Sakai in the sixth last October. Former world-title challenger Sasaki represents a notable step up in class, although it will not have escaped the Tanaka's attention that both of his opponent's career defeats to Andy Hiraoka and Brian Norman Jr. came by stoppage.
Deok No Yun vs. Yuito Moriwaki
- Division/Weight: Super Middleweight
- Yun record: 10-2-1
- Moriwaki record: 1-0-1
- Belts at stake: Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation and WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight titles.
In this rematch of an aborted December 2025 encounter, Moriwaki will be keen to finish what he started.
The Tokyo Olympian dropped Yun before a class of heads left the South Korean with an eye injury that meant he could not continue. It meant the bout officially went in the books as a fourth-round technical draw.
Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani tune-in info
- Date: Saturday, May 2
- Location: Tokyo Dome — Tokyo, Japan
- Prelims: 2 a.m. ET | 11 p.m. PT (May 1) | 7 a.m. BST | 5 p.m. AEST
- Main event start time (approx.): 7 a.m. ET | 4 a.m. PT | 12 p.m. BST | 10 p.m. AEST
- How to watch: DAZN
Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani will be available on DAZN worldwide.
A DAZN monthly subscription is $19.99 on a 12-month contract or $29.99 month-to-month. The annual subscription is $224.99.
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