Naoya Inoue beats Junto Nakatanito retain super-bantamweight belts

Naoya Inoue retained his undisputed super-bantamweight crown with a unanimous decision victory over Junto Nakatani on Saturday in one of the biggest bouts in Japanese boxing history.
Two judges scored the fight 116-112, while one had it 115-113, all in favor of Inoue after 12 rounds before a sell-out crowd of 55,000 at the Tokyo Dome.
Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) kept his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts — and then apologized for not delivering a knockout.
The 33-year-old Inoue, nicknamed “The Monster” and hailed as Japan’s greatest boxer, also praised Nakatani (32-1, 24 KOs). “He was a fighter with a strong heart. That’s what makes this win mean so much,” said Inoue, a four-division champion.
The highly anticipated bout galvanized fans here for the past year with former champions and other experts offering commentary. Most predictions had favored Inoue because of his experience, speed and power. The fight amply displayed both boxers’ dexterity, in offense and defense, with both taking nice swings as well as jabs, but a lot simply failed to land.
The 28-year-old Nakatani, a southpaw, used his longer reach to keep Inoue’s punches at bay, while Inoue simply swayed his body or got out of the way.
The challenger became more aggressive after the sixth round, moving forward to try to land punches. But Inoue used his quick footwork to evade them, landing some jabs back in the process.
“I came prepared so there were no surprises, but the champion was great,” a somber Nakatani said after absorbing his first professional loss.
Nakatani suffered a cut above his left eye in what appeared to come from an accidental clash of heads, and officials said he was going to a hospital afterward to get it checked.
Takuma Inoue also winsIn a closely watched undercard, Inoue’s younger brother Takuma (22-2, 5 KOs) beat former four-division champion Kazuto Ioka (32-5-1, 17 KOs) by unanimous decision to retain his WBC bantamweight title.
“I really enjoyed the 12 exciting rounds, all thanks to my opponent, who is a legend,” Takuma Inoue said.