Japanese superstar Junto Nakatani has been nothing short of flawless in his career so far.
‘Big Bang’ has held world titles in three weight divisions, as he has proved himself to be one of the pound-for-pound greatest talents in modern boxing.
Set to take on Ryosuke Nishida on June 8th, Nakatani will aim to improve his professional record to 31-0. In his last outing, Nakatani earned his fourth consecutive stoppage, knocking out David Cuellar Contreras in February 2025.
However, dominating opponents is not something that has only come recently for Nakatani, who may face Naoya Inoue in the future. In 2021, he defended his world title in a one-sided affair.
Junto Nakatani had a brutal display over Angel Acosta in 2021
After knocking out Giemel Magramo in November 2020 to claim the vacant WBO World Flyweight title, Nakatani became a champion at age 22. Returning 10 months later, he would look to defend his title for the first time.
Facing Angel Acosta in his American debut, Nakatani aimed to retain his world title in Arizona on September 10th, 2021.
The Puerto Rican Acosta went into the bout with a 22-2 record, with his last loss coming to Elwin Soto in 2019.
Despite being seven years older than Nakatani, Acosta was not able to put his experience to use in the fight. In what was a dominant affair, the young Nakatani would emerge the victor.
As Nakatani would continually land damaging blows on the challenger, significant bleeding appeared on the face of Acosta. Despite efforts from his corner to control the damage, Acosta continued to be on the receiving end of Nakatani’s stinging shots.
Ahead of the fourth round, the doctor expressed concern for the title challenger, feeling Acosta had lost a lot of blood. Although the round would begin, it would be the final round of the fight.
Just after the 30-second mark of the fourth round, the referee waved off the bout. Although Acosta was not knocked down or under significant pressure, the accumulation of damage was too much for the fighter to continue, according to the referee.
Junto Nakatani became a two-division world champion in 2023
Three years after becoming WBO World Flyweight champion, Nakatani would move up a weight division to challenge for the super flyweight title.
Holding the belt in May 2023 was Andrew Maloney from Australia, with a 25-2 record. However, he would not be able to fend off the Japanese fighter.
Earning a knockout in the final round, Nakatani put an exclamation mark on an already excellent performance. Dethroning Maloney, Nakatani became a two-division world champion at age 23.