Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed super-bantamweight crown against Junto Nakatani by unanimous decision on Saturday in one of the biggest bouts in Japanese 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) retained his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts — and then apologized for not delivering a knockout.
The 33-year-old Inoue, 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 bout was billed the biggest in Japanese boxing history, galvanizing fans here for the last year. Former champions and other experts were giving out commentary for months. Most predictions had favored Inoue because of his experience, speed, power and variety of moves.
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.
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.
He 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.
