TOKYO – Japanese boxing star Junto Nakatani fractured his left eye socket and will concentrate on recovery for the foreseeable future following his epic bout with undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, a source close to him said Sunday.

The two pound-for-pound elites fought out a classic at Tokyo Dome on Saturday that lived up to its billing as the biggest match in Japanese boxing history, won by Inoue in a unanimous decision for his record-extending 28th straight victory in world title bouts.

“I have a bit of an injury, but I’ll heal it properly and fight again,” the 28-year-old Nakatani wrote on his Instagram. He had revealed after the bout that the injury was caused by an Inoue punch in the 11th round.

It came a round after Nakatani, a three-division world title winner with an identical 32-0 career record to Inoue coming into the bout, suffered a cut above his left eye from an accidental head clash, with blood gushing from the wound.

Still unbeaten in his perfect career, four-division champion Inoue reflected on the battle for the ages with satisfaction.

“For now, I’m relieved. It feels as if I’ve finished off a big job,” said the 33-year-old, who won the first four rounds on all three judges’ scores to seize control. “I sensed I wouldn’t be dropped by Nakatani’s punches.”

“I thought a win by only two points was harsh,” he added after one judge scored the bout 115-113, with the other two on 116-112. “But I need to develop a better sense (to bridge such gap) and take another look technically.”

Inoue had the chance to settle the contest in the 11th round against a wounded Nakatani but claimed he “slightly” held himself back.

“The desire wasn’t at 100 percent to really beat him up. It was a bit of mixed emotion, one that I felt for the first time,” said Inoue, who fought four bouts last year before preparing for the latest blockbuster.

“I want to remove my mental damage properly. I don’t have much in the way of physical damage, but there’s been huge pressure up till this point.”

His gym president Hideyuki Ohashi hinted Inoue’s next bout could even be next year, with a decision also to be made on which weight division he fights in.

“I’ll make him take a proper rest. There could be one more bout to come this year, could be two,” he said. “I think he can certainly cut it in the featherweight division.”