Arguably the biggest fight on the schedule has a working date and location, as Jake Donovan reports that undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue and former three-division champion Junto Nakatani “is targeted to take place on May 2 at the famed Tokyo Dome.”
This would mark Inoue’s (32-0, 27 KO) second appearance at the Dome, having previously welcomed Luis Nery back to the Land of the Rising Sun with a vicious knockout in May 2024. It would also mark his longest layoff since that event; “The Monster” fought four times in 2025 alone, knocking out Ye Joon Kim and Ramon Cardenas before cruising to decisions against Murodjon Akhmadaliev and David Picasso. He stated afterwards that the workload was wearing on him, so it’s not surprising he’s giving himself a bit more time to recuperate.
The rest will certainly be welcomed by Nakatani (32-0, 24 KO), who ran over the undefeated David Cuellar and Ryosuke Nishida in his first fights of 2025 before narrowly escaping the relentless Sebastian Hernandez in Riyadh. He fought through some serious swelling in his eye, but appears to have avoided significant injury.
This is not just a clash between pound-for-pound talents, but a battle of elite finishers whose styles play into each other’s weaknesses. Barring something truly special coming down the pipeline, this has a strong chance of being the unmissable boxing event of 2026.
AloJapan.com