Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez has offered a surprising take on Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani, believing the result could be determined by a single punch.
The pair will collide at the Tokyo Dome on May 2, with pound-for-pound star Inoue making the seventh defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight crown.
Since becoming a two-division undisputed king in 2023, stopping Marlon Tapales, ‘The Monster’ has retained his four major titles against the likes of Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas.
His most recent performance came in December, when the 33-year-old handily outpointed David Picasso and improved his record to 32-0 (27 KOs), which followed a comparably dominant points victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Featuring on the undercard of Inoue-Picasso, Nakatani was introduced to a far tougher night’s work against Sebastian Hernandez, who many felt had done enough to edge their encounter.
As it was, Nakatani won by unanimous decision in his first outing at 122lbs, while having previously become a three-division world champion.
But while the 28-year-old brings considerable credibility and class to their all-Japanese showdown, many believe the experience and power of Inoue will ultimately prove decisive.
As far as fellow pound-for-pound star Rodriguez is concerned, however, the two unbeaten punchers should be given an equal chance at orchestrating a favourable outcome.
Speaking with Boxing News, the unified super-flyweight champion did not give a clear prediction, but nonetheless anticipates the result being determined by their early exchanges.
“That’s a great fight. I feel like whoever lands the first big punch will become the winner.”
On paper, Nakatani arguably represents the toughest opponent thus far for Inoue, who has previously defeated the likes of Nonito Donaire and Stephen Fulton.