The long-awaited clash between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani, undoubtedly the biggest Japanese boxing duel of our time, finally has a date, as per recent announcements by Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger.
Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani are set to throw down on May 2 at Tokyo Dome
This modern Japanese classic will take place on May 2 in the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, the same venue where Inoue scored a knockout win against Luis Nery in front of 55,000 people in May 2024 to retain his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super bantamweight titles.
Both of these undefeated Japanese boxers were on the same card last year in December and won their respective bouts. World Boxing Council reported at the same time that talks were already underway for “The Monster” to throw down with Nakatani.
Naoya Inoue successfully defended his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super bantamweight titles against David Picasso in Riyadh in late December, and now, after six successful title defenses, Inoue will put his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO 122-pound titles on the line against countryman Nakatani in his home soil on May 2.
That same night, when Inoue beat the aforementioned Picasso, Junto Nakatani made his super-bantamweight debut on the undercard against Sebastian Hernandez and won by unanimous decision.
Before the Hernandez bout, “Big Bang” had announced his intention to vacate his bantamweight titles and move up to super bantamweight.
Naoya Inoue, ranked Number 2 on Ring’s P4P list, enters the fight with a Pro-Boxing record of 32 wins and 0 losses (27 wins by knockouts and 5 by decision). He defended his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super bantamweight titles four times in 2025.
On the other hand, the 28-year-old “Big Bang,” who sits at No. 7 on the Ring’s P4P list, has a Pro-Boxing record of 32-0 (24 wins by knockout and 8 by decision). He has held world championships in three weight classes, the Ring Magazine bantamweight title in 2025, and also the IBF bantamweight championship on 8 June 2025.
Both boxers are undefeated and carry insane knockout power as reflected in their records, but someone’s “0” goes on May 2 at Tokyo Dome.
