by Keith Idec
NAOYA INOUE and Junto Nakatani need to keep winning.
Nakatani, who owns the WBC bantamweight title, also must move up from the 118-pound division to the 122-pound weight class for them to fight. Assuming those things transpire, though, Bob Arum envisions the unbeaten Japanese champions clashing sometime next summer at Tokyo Dome in what the Hall of Fame promoter expects to be an enormous event in their homeland.
“We’re working on it,” Arum told Boxing News. “Hopefully, they both keep winning. And it will be the biggest fight in the history of boxing in Japan.”
Inoue is a mainstream superstar in Japan, where he regularly sells out Ariake Arena in Tokyo for his title defences. The 31-year-old four-division champion is typically listed as one of the top three boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport and regularly earns more than $15 million per fight in his home country.
Arum – whose company, Top Rank Inc., co-promotes Inoue and Nakatani – expects Inoue to fight twice and Nakatani to compete at least once before possibly putting them in the ring together in mid-2025.
“The hope is Inoue fights in December,” Arum explained, “and then we bring him over to the United States in April, maybe on the same card as Nakatani. And then have them fight each other in the Tokyo Dome in the biggest fight in the history of Japan.”
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound crowns against Australia’s Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) on December 24 in Tokyo. An announcement is expected soon to make the card headlined by Inoue-Goodman official.
If the heavily favored Inoue wins, his return to the ring in the spring could come versus Uzbek southpaw Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs), who is the number one contender for Inoue’s WBA belt. According to Arum, opponents other than Akhmadaliev will also be considered for Inoue’s subsequent bout if he defeats Goodman.
The promotional plan for Nakatani was for him to make his next title defence against Takuma Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother, which would’ve interestingly set the stage for Nakatani-Naoya Inoue if Nakatani had won that bout. Another Japanese bantamweight, Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KOs), upset Takuma Inoue, however, by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder October 13 at Ariake Arena.
The next day, Nakatani, a 5-foot-8 southpaw who stands three inches taller than Naoya Inoue, stopped Thailand’s Tasana Salapat (76-2, 53 KOs) in the sixth round of their October 14 bout at Ariake Arena.
The 26-year-old Nakatani would be considered the truest threat to Naoya Inoue’s reign as undisputed 122-pound champion if he moves up four pounds. He is likely to remain in the 118-pound division for one more voluntary title defence against an opponent to be determined before he advances to Naoya Inoue’s division.
“It’d be the hottest ticket ever for boxing in Japan,” Arum said. “And remember, [Inoue] sold 55,000 seats, sold it out, when he fought Nery.”
Naoya Inoue got up from a flash knockdown during the first round and defeated Mexico’s Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) by sixth-round TKO on May 6 at Tokyo Dome, where James “Buster” Douglas legendarily upset 42-1 favourite Mike Tyson by 10th-round knockout in February 1990. Inoue then stopped Irish southpaw TJ Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) in the seventh round of his last fight, September 3 at Ariake Arena.