Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Preview June 8th, 2025
Two unbeaten Japanese world bantamweight champions will be unifying their titles in Tokyo this Sunday, June 8th when WBC Beltholder Junto Nakatani takes on IBF Boss Ryosuke Nishida. The 12-rounder from the Ariake Colloseum can be seen live in America on ESPN+ with the card getting underway about 3am ET. Nakatani is a former WBO Flyweight and Super Flyweight Champion who will be defending his bantamweight title for the fourth time. He last fought in February when he stopped David Cuellar of Mexico in the third round. Nakatani won the bantamweight title by stopping Alexandro Santiago in the sixth round in February of last year to win a world title in a third weight division. He then defended it against Vincent Astrolabio in July when he stopped him in 157 seconds and and halted Petch CP Freshmart in the sixth round in October. Nishida captured his IBF Crown last May when he beat Emmanuel Rodriguez by unanimous decision. He defended it against Anuchai Donsua by seventh-round KO in his last outing in December.
Nakatani vs Nishida Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Ryosuke Nishida +643
- Junto Nakatani -1250
My Pick
The 27-year-old ‘Big Bang’ Nakatani is a southpaw who hails from Inabe-gun, Mie, and already boasts a perfect record of 30-0 with 23 Ko’s. He’s tall for the 118 lb division as he measures 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68.5-inch reach. Nakatani has boxed 146 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 and won the vacant Japanese Flyweight title in 2019 when he stopped Naoki Mochizuki in the ninth round. The WBC Champion has displayed plenty of power up until now with a current knockout ratio of 76.7 per cent and has stopped 11 of his last 13 opponents including the last four in a row.
Nakatani halted former world champion Milan Melindo of the Philippines in the sixth round in October, 2019 and then won the the vacant WBO Flyweight Title in November, 2020 with an eighth-round stoppage over Giemel Magramo. He stopped Angel Acosta in the fourth round in his first defence and then halted Ryota Yamauchi in eight rounds before moving up in weight against Francisco Rodriguez in November, 2022 and taking a 10-round unanimous decision.
Nakatani then stopped Andrew Moloney in May, 2023 for the vacant WBO Super Flyweight Title with what most experts considered to be the knockout of the year. As a pro, Nakatani is already considered to be one of the most successful Japanese boxers in history with world title belts in three weight divisions and combines speed, ring intelligence and power.
The 27-year-old Nishida is also a southpaw and he climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 10-0 with 2 Ko’s. He certainly lacks serious power as his current knockout ratio comes in at just 20 per cent. His first knockout came in his pro debut in 2019 when he halted Sakol Ketkul in the first round with his second coming in his last bout when he stopped Anuchai Donsua in the seventh stanza. Nishida began boxing in high school and captured a national high school boxing tournament. He gave up the sport following university though but took it up again in 2019.
Nishida, who hails from Kashiba, Nara, has wins over former Japanese Bantamweight Champion Shohei Omori and former WBC Flyweight Champion Daigo Higa. His 12-round unanimous decision win over Higa in 2021 was for the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Belt and he’s defended it against Tetsuro Ohashi, Aljum Pelesio and Songsaeng Phoyaem and won every round on all scorecards against Pelesio and Phoyaem over 10 and 12 rounds respectively. At 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach, Nishida is an inch shorter than Nakatani and gives up a minimal half-inch in reach.
Prediction…
Nishida doesn’t have a lot of pro experience and hasn’t faced the same level opposition as Nakatani. In addition, he has nowhere near the power as his fellow countryman and that could be a serious problem as it’s going to be hard to keep Nakatani off of him for all 12 rounds regardless of how good his boxing skills are. This is a good domestic matchup and one that Nakatani has to win if he hopes to move up in weight for the ultimate all-Japanese showdown against Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue. I’m expecting an interesting boxing matchup for the first few rounds here and then for Nakatani to impose his power and will upon Nishida en-route to victory, possibly by stoppage.
Nakatani’s power and skills should do the trick.
Play: Nakatani -1250 @ BetOnline.ag
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Junto Nakatani betting • Ryosuke Nishida betting