Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani kick off a bumper weekend of boxing this afternoon.
A sold-out 55,000-capacity crowd is expected at the Tokyo Dome for arguably the biggest bout in Japanese history that sees two undefeated 32-0 superstars go head to head for the undisputed super-bantamweight world championship.
It is one of the most hotly anticipated showdowns of the year and comes before David Benavidez challenges for Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez’s cruiserweight titles in Las Vegas, with Conah Walker and Sam Eggington also in action in the UK.
Naoya’s younger brother Takuma Inoue successfully defended his WBC bantamweight title for the first time with a dominant victory against Kazuto Ioka, while Yoshiki Takei beat DeKang Wang after Jin Sasaki defeated Sora Tanaka.
Follow Inoue vs Nakatani live below!
Naoya Inoue beats Junto Nakatani by unanimous decision
Michael Buffer has the official scorecards...
By four rounds, by two, by four - all in favour of Inoue, who is still the undisputed super-bantamweight champion of the world.
A pulsating final round as both men put on a show for this sold-out, 55,000-strong crowd.
Nakatani tries to finish strong, but that cut has definitely impacted him and Inoue knows exactly what he has to do to finish smartly and effectively.
A hell of an effort from Nakatani, but Inoue has surely won this on the cards and retained his undisputed super-bantamweight titles for the seventh time.
We await the official judges’ scorecards...
An electric 11th round from Inoue summed up by the stats...
Both men are throwing caution to the wind and swinging away as we enter the final three minutes in Tokyo.
Is there last-gasp drama to come?
I think Inoue has done enough at the moment...
Inoue needs a response here after a strong few rounds from Nakatani.
And he delivers it, significantly raising his aggression levels at a crucial time and letting the big shots fly in bunches.
The blood looks to be flowing directly into the eye of Nakatani from that nasty cut.
A massive, massive round from Inoue, who dominates and has the crowd on their feet with some trademark combinations from all angles.
Into the championship rounds and Nakatani is coming on really strong now, showing far greater confidence and ambition as he drills into Inoue with some powerful shots.
He is charging around the ring after Inoue, who is in defensive mode and covers up against the ropes before Nakatani is cut above his right eye by an accidental clash of heads.
It’s a nasty one and there is blood pouring out as the fight is temporarily halted.
The boxers retreat to neutral corners and the ringside doctor is called to assess the wound, which looks deep.
We’re quickly back underway and Nakatani continues to pile on the pressure despite that cut, smashing Inoue to the body and continuing to let his hands go.
Another clear round for Nakatani!
How close is he with two rounds left?
Inoue looks to keep the energy up at the start of the ninth, but then gets caught with Nakatani’s best combination of the fight so far.
The tempo has picked up a lot now from both men.
Inoue is an absolute marvel with how he is able to get his shots off from seemingly any angle.
Some superb work from Nakatani though on the inside and he finishes the round brilliantly, landing some solid shots including a thudding left uppercut.
Inoue ups his levels in round eight, moving through the gears, stepping in and letting the shots fly.
He’s gliding in and out of range beautifully again, getting those sharp punches off before moving away from any danger.
A bit of showboating today from Inoue, now he backpedals all the way across the ring.
A strong end to the round from Nakatani as he catches Inoue and both fighters exchange smiles as the crowd applauds.
Into the second half of the fight and it’s another bright start from Nakatani.
But there’s now blood coming from the nose of the challenger after a couple of sharp punches find the mark from the aggressive Inoue.
A few lovely right hands from Inoue landed there, he’s so good at attacking from all angles.
“You’ve got to start letting your hands go,” Nakatani is told by trainer Rudy Hernandez in the corner before the start of round eight.
Nakatani is moving his feet now and giving Inoue far more to think about, looping in some smart shots with those long arms.
He’s starting to use that left hand much more.
But Inoue still looks the more impressive fighter when he drives in off the front foot and lets his hands go, even though he’s landing little of note.
Terence Crawford doesn’t look too impressed at ringside...
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Source: This article was originally published by Evening Standard
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