![\"Naoya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AFP__20260502__A9LY7E7__v1__HighRes__BoxJpn-1777792071.jpg\")
Inoue and Nakatani in action during their super bantamweight championship bout [Yuichi Yamazaki\/AFP]<\/p>\nNaoya Inoue wins 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 in a fight billed as the biggest boxing match in \u200bJapanese history.<\/p>\n
Published On 3 May 20263 May 2026<\/p>\n
Japanese boxer \u200cNaoya Inoue has retained his undisputed super \u2060bantamweight world \u2060title with a unanimous decision victory over compatriot Junto Nakatani after a gripping 12-round \u2060contest in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Inoue said he was \u201crelieved\u201d to beat Nakatani and stay unbeaten in front of 55,000 fans at a sold-out Tokyo Dome on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old, famous as the Monster, extended his winning streak in world \u2060title bouts to 28 as judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 116-112 in his favour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was different to the fights I\u2019ve had before, with the pressure. So I\u2019m relieved that I won,\u201d Inoue said afterwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if tonight was a legendary night or not, but that\u2019s coming soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight isn\u2019t the end point of my boxing career, and there\u2019s still time to create more legendary occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inoue and Nakatani in action during their super bantamweight championship bout [Yuichi Yamazaki\/AFP]<\/p>\n
Both boxers entered the bout unbeaten at 32-0 in a \u200ccontest billed as the biggest boxing match in Japanese history after Nakatani moved up a division late last year.<\/p>\n
Inoue charged early before Nakatani appeared to close the gap in the latter half of the fight as \u2060the pace intensified, but a \u2060clash of heads late in the 10th round opened a cut above the challenger\u2019s eye and stalled his momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday I executed \u2060the plan that I\u2019d been saying before the fight, to stay \u2060focused on winning, to make \u2060sure I was the one who came out as the winner,\u201d Inoue said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you all know, Nakatani is a mentally strong \u200cboxer. The fact that he is in the [top 10] pound-for-pound rankings makes this win worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win \u200cimproved \u200cInoue\u2019s overall record to 33 victories, with 27 knockouts (KOs).<\/p>\n
Nakatani, who has held world titles in three different weight classes, was looking to catapult himself into the sport\u2019s top echelons with a win.<\/p>\n
Nicknamed \u201cBig Bang\u201d, the 28-year-old regularly features in The Ring magazine\u2019s top 10 pound-for-pound rankings, which rate the world\u2019s best boxers regardless of weight class.<\/p>\n
He was fighting only his second bout at super bantamweight, and he used his longer reach to hold Inoue at bay early in the fight.<\/p>\n
But he was powerless to prevent his opponent scoring with a series of pinpoint shots, before an accidental headbutt opened up a cut above his eye that troubled him late in the fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI prepared for lots of different eventualities, so I wasn\u2019t really surprised by the way he fought,\u201d said Nakatani, who saw his record drop to 32-1, with 24 KOs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he fought like a champion, and he\u2019s a great boxer.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Naoya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26122505218502-1777792148.jpg\")
Inoue speaks after his win [Hiro Komae\/AP]<\/p>\n
The match was fought in an atmosphere of mutual respect, with both boxers exchanging smiles and fist bumps throughout.<\/p>\n
Inoue was fighting at the Tokyo Dome for the second time, having beaten Mexico\u2019s Luis Nery there in May 2024.<\/p>\n
The area around the stadium was thronged with fans hours before the doors opened.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere reached fever pitch when Inoue and Nakatani made their entrances for a landmark bout in Japanese boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe view I had from the ring was one that only I could savour, but it was thanks to the 55,000 people in the stadium that I was able to see it,\u201d Inoue said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be back at the Tokyo Dome, so please let me savour this view again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Naoya Inoue wins 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 in a fight billed as the biggest boxing match in \u200bJapanese history.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[6109,703,49,48,2454,44,457,82],"class_list":["post-644984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-asia-pacific","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}