{"id":557227,"date":"2026-04-29T16:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/557227\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:43:13","slug":"the-last-fighter-to-drop-naoya-inoue-sums-up-junto-nakatanis-chances-of-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/557227\/","title":{"rendered":"The last fighter to drop Naoya Inoue sums up Junto Nakatani’s chances of victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ramon Cardenas, who managed to drop Naoya Inoue in their 2025 bout, has shared his thoughts on this weekend\u2019s historic showdown with Junto Nakatani.<\/p>\n

Inoue has been dropped twice over the course of his outstanding 32-fight career, but rose to win in emphatic fashion on both occasions to remain undefeated. This weekend, he takes on what should be his most difficult challenge yet in a fascinating scrap with fellow Japanese pound-for-pound star, Junto Nakatani.<\/p>\n

A three-division champion, Nakatani has been somewhat in the shadows of Inoue, in hot pursuit of a clash with his countryman, which he has now finally secured.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Ring Magazine<\/a>, Cardenas, who lost to Inoue last year<\/a> and has sparred a total of 99 rounds with Nakatani, explained that, for the latter to pull off the upset, he must use his range.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the going gets tough, Junto still sticks with the game plan, even if it may be difficult. For Junto to win this fight, he needs to use his reach to do what he wants that night. He can\u2019t let Inoue control the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd with Junto\u2019s length, it could be hard to get into range. Junto is very good at using his range. When I fought Inoue, I said going in that I had to be perfect for 36 minutes. But for Junto, I feel that it could be a 50-50 fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Texan added that Nakatani may have more difficulty landing the overhand that he and Luis Nery did<\/a> in Inoue\u2019s two career knockdowns, due to the adjustments made by the debatable pound-for-pound king.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be difficult for Junto to drop Inoue with the overhand left the same way Luis Nery and I did because Inoue is expecting it, one hundred percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell that Inoue has worked on neutralising the left hand connecting on him ever since fighting me. I\u2019ll bet you anything they are constantly drilling to keep the right hand tucked to the chin to not let the left hand get through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever makes the first big mistake is going to pay. I don\u2019t know if it will be a knockout or not in this fight, on either side, because they both know how to adjust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Hernandez couldn\u2019t knock out Junto, I don\u2019t think Inoue can necessarily do it either. I see both guys imposing their dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dinamita\u2019 refused to offer a prediction for the contest, but finished off by giving credit to both men for accepting such a difficult fight and setting an example for their fellow boxing superstars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll keep who I actually think will win to myself. The best answer I can give is that boxing will win. This is the kind of fight that boxing needs \u2013 the top guys, the best fighting the best. Other people should take note. It\u2019s not about being undefeated; that\u2019s bogus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inoue-Nakatani takes place on Saturday, May 2 at the Tokyo Dome.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ramon Cardenas, who managed to drop Naoya Inoue in their 2025 bout, has shared his thoughts on this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-557227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}