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Boxing fans are really getting excited about Junto Nakatani.
You could tell in the buildup to this weekend’s card. It was a strong one, headlined by Takuma Inoue (brother of Naoya) vs Jerwin Ancajas for a title in the same (bantamweight) division and also featuring Kosei Tanaka. But all the hype, all the preview articles (including BE’s own Blaine) focused on Nakatani’s bout with Alexandro Santiago, as he stepped up from Superfly to challenge for Santiago’s bantamweight title.
We’re even more excited now, if anything. Nakatani was mostly expected to win, but Santiago was seen as an awkward, tough opponent, difficult to break down. Instead, he looked levels below, outclassed for five rounds before being blown away in the sixth.
Let’s take a look at just why you, too, should be following the career of Nakatani.
The breakdown: what makes Junto Nakatani so good
The first thing you’ll notice about Junto Nakatani is that he’s huge. Despite this being a new division for him- his second step up, having started at flyweight- he towered over Santiago. And he uses that size advantage in all the right ways.
The second thing you’ll notice is his lead right (as a southpaw) hand. It’s one of the best in modern boxing. He uses it not just to throw a classic clean jab, but for all sorts of things. He blinds his opponent by hanging it out there, brushes aside the guard with cuffing shots, and when he does double or triple it, the second and third will often be delivered differently to the first. He is, to put it mildly, extremely dexterous and extremely varied with it.
That makes it very hard for opponents to get past it to deliver their own work – which would be bad enough. Nakatani uses that, though, for the second part of his game. When they do approach- often because he’s deliberately paused his jab, knowing they have to take that opening- he has a left hand ready to intercept. And that left hand is just as good as his jab.
Sometimes, it’s a sharp straight that tags opponents as soon as they get into range. Sometimes, he lets them get close and delivers an uppercut, smoothly and cleanly while stepping backwards. Sometimes it’s a big looping step-in shot aiming for maximum power (though as the commentary team pointed out during this fight, this carries risk and he usually saves it for later in fights).
He can go to head or body, too. All this can come with a variety of angles and timings- sometimes it’s an on-beat 1-2, sometimes he breaks the timing, sometimes he doubles the jab and steps in behind it, sometimes not. And, if it’s safe to do so, he’ll follow up with the right again, delivering smooth combinations before stepping away again.
In short, even though Junto Nakatani’s game is quite easy to describe- he’s going to jab at range then throw the left as the range closes- it’s almost impossible for opponents to read. The fact that, if they go backwards, he’s quite happy to close range himself and capable at opening up gaps with throwaway shots doesn’t help. There is no safe range for Nakatani’s opponents. In fact, usually, when they do get in close (Santiago never really did, but other opponents have done), they find he’s just as good there, whipping in uppercuts and close-range hooks.
Santiago had precisely one decent moment- a solid left hand at the end of the second as Nakatani tried to counter his approach. Even there, though, replays show that though Santiago got there first, he took almost as good a shot in return, so it’s hard to say how much he even got out of it- and he never got close to repeating the trick again.
The finish: How Junto Nakatani got it done
The ending came in two parts- the first knockdown and then a final flurry that put Santiago down again and drew the towel from his corner. The one led to the other, of course, but they were two very different actions that highlight Nakatani’s variation, so let’s take them separately after the highlight clip of both below.
The first knockdown is a display of quick thinking. Nakatani flicks out a jab and throws a looping left behind it. Santiago reads it well and rolls under it- but as he pops back up, Nakatani is already stepping forward. That means that where Santiago is expecting time to reset, Nakatani is closer than expected, and the Mexican can do nothing with the follow-up 1-2 and ducks right into the straight left. It’s not even a particularly hard shot, but the timing puts Santiago on his backside.
The follow-up is proof that Nakatani does not fall into a trap that some precision fighters do. That is, they refuse to let shots go that aren’t completely clean, giving up solid, safe opportunities to land- you sometimes see fighters like that let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Not so Nakatani. Once he sees that Santiago is still hurt, he jumps on him, and he’s not terribly bothered if all the shots are delivered with flawless form. First, he sees that the champion is trying to circle out to his own right, and cuts that escape off with a literal leap while throwing a 1-2, less at Santiago than the space he’s about to be in. He’s actually completely off-balance here- you can see that both his feet are in front of his shoulders at one point, so really any contact could have knocked him down. Santiago is in no position to see that or respond, though.
Nakatani then turns to follow Santiago’s retreat and, to keep him thinking, throws a leaping jab that leaves his feet behind, before bringing them under him while throwing a right hook that rather crunches into his opponent’s jaw. While he’s recovering from that, Nakatani regains proper balance impressively quickly, and then gives it up again throwing a huge, sweeping right hook – which (with a delayed reaction) ultimately drops Santiago and ends the fight.
Would that have been safe against a less dazed opponent? Well, no, but that’s the point. You don’t see Nakatani take those risks when he shouldn’t- but his awareness and quickness to recover makes him an impressive, dangerous finisher when he does start. Sure, he might one day misjudge a situation and take a lick or two- but it’s hard to see many opponents who could draw that out of him.
The Future: what next for Junto Nakatani?
One who could, of course, is Japanese boxing’s superstar, Naoya Inoue. He currently sits at super-bantamweight, one division above, so it’s not a huge gap to cross. That said, Nakatani indicated after this fight that he’ll probably stay at bantamweight for a while. He gave up his flyweight and superflyweight titles pretty quickly after simply finding it too hard to make weight, but he suggests that he feels comfortable here, so he may not be in a rush to move up too far too soon.
That leaves us looking at unifications. Given they just fought on the same card, Takuma Inoue seems makeable (and would add spice to a match with Nayoa if they ever did meet down the line, of course). Takuma scored a pretty great knockout of his own, a bodyshot stoppage of Jerwin Ancajas, another former superfly champ moving up. Takuma hasn’t always been a riveting fighter but he’s looked much improved in his last two fights and this bout was a good back-and-forth scrap, so the prospect of a unification with Nakatani is enticing.
Another tale of familial revenge is already live and kicking- Nakatani won his superfly title with a KO of the year last year against Andrew Moloney. His twin brother Jason holds the WBO belt and is calling for the Nakatani fight. Emmanuel Rodriguez, the other beltholder in the division, is also out there- really, it’s both desirable and achievable that Nakatani looks to unify.
And, if he achieves that, who knows what lies in the future for him.