On early Monday morning from the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, Junto Nakatani scored a sixth round stoppage of Sor Chitpattana in defense of his WBC bantamweight title. For Nakatani it was another dominating effort where the lankly and long southpaw displayed his pin-point accuracy and power.
After winning this title back in February by stopping Alexander Santiago in six, Nakatani then knocked out Vincent Astrolabio in July in his first title defense. At age 26, the three-division champion is now entering his physical and technical apex as a fighter.
Junto Nakatani Proves He's Another Another Level AGAIN | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
While he's not necessarily defeating any marquee names, the manner in which he is doing so has created a significant buzz. To a point where he is now on pound-for-pound lists (Ring Magazine has him ninth), and there is now talk of a showdown with the most well-known Japanese boxer on the planet, Naoya Inoue.
Naoki Fukuda
"We've had our eyes on him for a long time," said an admiring Bob Arum. "We're co-promoters with (Akihiko) Honda, and hopefully he and Inoue keep winning and next year it will be the biggest fight in the history of Japan. It will sell out the Tokyko Dome at unbelievable prices."
It will be interesting to see if Nakatani will attempt to unify the bantamweight division. Currently, all four champions are from 'the Land of the Rising Sun'. Inoue's brother, Takuma, was defeated on Sunday for his WBA belt by Seiya Tsutsumi. A natural story line could've been created with Nakatani going from one Inoue to another. It looks like he will return to the ring in the first quarter of 2025, regardless.
Top Rank
As for Inoue, he will most likely be facing one of his mandatory challengers, Sam Goodman, on Christmas Eve in Japan. Then a return engagement to the United States is a possibility. Arum confirmed to SNAC.com that Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank, is in discussions with MGM and T-Mobile about an April event featuring 'the Monster'.
Should Nakatani and Inoue keep winning, a showdown seems inevitable. It's just a matter of when, not if.
" A lot will depend on the availability of the Toyko Dome," said Arum
BETERBIEV
Arum certainly had a vested interest in this past week's showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, who battled in Riyahd, Saudi Arabia, for the undisputed light heavyweight title. After 12 taut rounds, it was Beterbiev winning a majority decision by the scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112.
With how competitive and close this contest was, is there any interest in a return bout?
Arum answered, "Y'know, it depends on what else is around. I mean, obviously if 'Canelo' (Saul Alvarez) wanted to fight us, that would be absolutely huge. (David) Benavidez would be a viable opponent. Beterbiev-Bivol was a terrific fight but who's going to pay for it, particularly what they got for the last fight."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Well, probably Turki Alalshikh and his crew? Without them, they wouldn't have met to begin with. And the truth of the matter is that Beterbiev and his punishing style may not be worth the risk to the other marquee names between 168 and 175.
"If the Saudis are really bound and determined to do that fight and compensate Beterbiev appropriately, why not do the rematch?" said Arum. "It's all about the Benjamin's."
As for the decision which is being disputed by some, Arum pointed out: "All three judges scored 10 of the round identically. They had six rounds to Beterbiev and four with Bivol. That left two rounds where they were in dispute. On those two rounds, one judge scored it two rounds for Bivol, which made it a draw on his card. One judge scored those two round for Beterbiev, which made it 8-4 for Beterbiev."
Riyadh Season
"And then the American judge, (Glenn) Feldman had it one round for Beterbiev and one round for Bivol -- and that's why his card was 7-5. So everyone can say what they want to say but there's only two rounds where the judges didn't see it identically."
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' Mario Lopez and I give a full review of Beterbiev-Bivol:
THE 3 KNOCKDOWN RULE EPISODE 63 | UNDISPUTED
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