Some fights, some matchups, seem inevitable. Some of these unavoidable, they-simply-have-to-happen fights take time to grow, build, and “marinate,” as Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum might say. Right now, in terms of the little guys, the little giants of the sport, one seemingly inevitable fight, a fight that could be, in fact, it really has to be, described as a real-life Dream Fight, tops all others as far as fan fascination goes.
It is an all-Japanese battle between undefeated pound-for-pound stars/multi-weight world title winners Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. Unlike a talked of but pretty unrealistic (for now at least) Inoue-Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez showdown (“Bam” telling us he needs time to grow fully, not only into the 115-pound division but then the 118 and then the 122-pound division where “The Monster” resides) – Inoue against Nakatani is realistic.
And who on earth wouldn’t want to see this one? Who on earth wins if/when these two superb, seemingly all but flawless fighting machines collide inside a quickly sold-out, cavernous stadium in Tokyo, Japan, next year? Imagine the sheer skill level, ring IQ, and various lethal weaponry on display from both sides in this collision!
Nakatani, who is as proficient as Inoue is when it comes to taking a foe down, either with a shot to the head or the body, scored a body-freeze KO over Vincent Astrolabio yesterday, this a fight the 28-0(21) southpaw said he felt would have been a “long fight.” Instead, Nakatani, aged 26 and yet to reach his peak, took out his WBC bantamweight title challenger with one excruciatingly placed straight left hand to the body.
And Nakatani says he wants that fight with Inoue, that and all the other belts at 118 pounds.
“I would like to unify the titles or move up to [122 pounds] to win the championship there,” Nakatani said after despatching Astrolabio in double-quick fashion. “The fight with Inoue is the one I really want. A lot of people are really expecting this fight. I will continue to get stronger and will be ready for this fight.”
Nakatani is 100 percent right when he says a lot of people want and are expecting the fight between him and his superstar countryman to happen. Inoue, at age 31, may have reached his peak, and he has looked sensational, perhaps even better than ever, since moving up to 122 to claim all four belts there. Inoue, 27-0(24), is a four-weight world champion to Nakatani’s three divisions conquered.
Now set to take care of one or two mandatory defenses, Inoue, in theory, will be free to face Nakatani sometime next year, maybe the first half of 2025, perhaps the second half. As long as both men continue to remain unbeaten, and so long as Inoue and Nakatani continue fighting close together in terms of weight (Inoue did say he plans to stay at 122 for two more years, so he will not move up too far in weight, thus making the Nakatani fight less possible) – this fight will be seen as inevitable.
It has to happen at least once. Who knows, maybe we could get a genuinely thrilling trilogy here.
