Naoya Inoue
, one of the best
pound-for-pound
boxers today, will not set foot in the ring this Saturday that will be set up at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
However, the figure of the undisputed super bantamweight monarch will fly over the building where
an evening event will take place in which three world titles
that once belonged to him and which three of his compatriots now aspire to, including his brother, will be at stake. minor.
Early risers
will
be able to enjoy the card starting at 6 on ESPN.
When a little over a year ago
Inoue vacated the four titles in the bantam division
to try his luck at 122 pounds, the game opened up for a good handful of contenders to succeed him.
One of those who was not on the radar of many and who took advantage of that situation was
the Mexican Alexandro Santiago
, who took the World Boxing Council crown by defeating the legendary
Filipino Nonito Donaire
in Las Vegas.
This Saturday, he will present it for the first time against a very difficult opponent like
the Japanese Junto Nakatani.
The slope is so steep that the 28-year-old from Tijuana landed in Tokyo with the sign of being a clear non-favorite for the contest, despite being the champion.
However, this does not bother him.
“My rival is a great fighter, young, hungry and with very good attributes.
I love these types of challenges because I know that by beating a fighter like this, with a tremendous resume, I will go to a higher level and better fights.
"I'm ready to return home with the title
," said
Peque
, who has
a record of 28 wins
(14 before the limit), 3 losses and 5 draws.
Alexandro Santiago will present the World Boxing Council bantamweight title for the first time.
Photo: Naoki Fukuda / CMB.
Santiago's underdog
status
is not a consequence of his own shortcomings, but of other people's attributes:
Nakatani, a 26-year-old skilled and punching left-hander
, has already exhibited a wide range of virtues in his professional career that allowed him to win the flyweight and super flyweight of the World Boxing Organization and that now, as first classified in the WBC bantamweight ranking, places him on the verge of his third crown.
With a height (1.72 meters) and a reach (1.70 meters) that are very advantageous in the universe of the small categories, the boxer born in Inabe and based in Sagamihara has not only won his 26 professional fights, but 19 of They have not reached the maximum agreed distance.
The power of his fists has been a torment for his rivals.
The Australian Andrew Moloney can account for this, who was the victim of
one of the most spectacular knockouts of 2023
in the fight between the two in May at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
.@BoxerJunto's punching power is next level 😳#InoueAncajas #SantiagoNakatani |
SAT 4AM ET |
@ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/eN3CyAiISk
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 21, 2024
His attributes, his victories and his titles have made many project him as
the heir of Naoya Inoue
, the best exponent of Japanese boxing these days.
“It is an honor to be compared to such an iconic fighter like Naoya.
“I feel inspired by him, a top Japanese boxer who greatly increased the presence of Japanese people in the world
,” highlighted Nakatani, whom some call
The Future Monster
, alluding to the multi-time champion's nickname.
And there is no shortage of those who already fantasize about a fight between the two.
“I still have to get a few more good results to fully deserve that nickname. And I would be happy to give even a small hope of having a great fight in the future. To reach that big stage, I hope to continue showing good performances so that people want to see my boxing more and more
,” explained the candidate for the Council crown.
The next step towards this will be the fight with Santiago, for which he prepared in Los Angeles with his trainer, Rudy Hernández, who has worked with him since he was a teenager.
Together Nakatani will seek his third world title against Alexandro Santiago.
Photo: Instagram @junto.n
Comparisons with Naoya Inoue are relatively new in Nakatani's life.
On the other hand,
for years they have been part of the daily life of Takuma Inoue, the younger brother of the
Monster
, who this Saturday will put the crown of the bantam division of the World Boxing Association at stake for the first time against the Filipino Jerwin Ancajas.
In the enormous shadow of his brother, Takuma, 28, has been building a good career for a decade that reached its peak in April 2023, when he won
the belt that he will now display by beating the Venezuelan Liborio Solís
in his second World Cup attempt. (in the first, for the WBC bantamweight title, he had fallen to the Frenchman Nordine Oubaali in 2019).
Of course: he doesn't have, even close to, Naoya's punch and explosiveness.
Of his 18 victories, only four were fast-track.
Takuma Inoue with Naoya, his brother.
Photo: Instagram takumainoue_1226.
Although he appears as a favorite in the betting houses, Takuma cautiously approaches this fight, which was scheduled for last November 15 and had to be postponed due to a broken rib in the local.
"I am in a challenger's mental state
. Jerwin is a very complete boxer who has good technique and power
," he warned.
Indeed, Inoue's first defense will be extremely demanding, since in front of him he will have an experienced boxer, seasoned in World Cup fights and who already knows the pleasure of triumphing in someone else's backyard.
The left-handed Ancajas, 32, was super flyweight monarch
of the International Boxing Federation for more than five years, retained his crown nine times and ended up giving it up in February 2022 to
Fernando Martínez
, the only world champion that Argentine boxing has in these days.
Jerwin Ancajas lost the IBF super flyweight title against Fernando Martínez.
Photo: Steve Marcus / Getty Images / AFP.
After falling again to Martínez in October 2022 and after having suffered to make weight for that fight, the Panabo-born fighter made the jump to 118 pounds.
With a resume that includes 34 wins (23 before the limit), 3 losses and 2 draws,
the
Pretty Boy
will try to restore some of his old luster to Philippine boxing, which these days does not even have an ecumenical monarch
.
“It really motivates me that we don't have a champion right now.
My effort to get the title will be to honor our country
,” highlighted the challenger.
The WBO super flyweight championship
, which Omar Narváez from Chubut treasured for more than four years and lost at the hands of Naoya Inoue in December 2014, will be the third to be put into play on Saturday in Tokyo.
The crown, vacant since Junto Nakatani renounced it in December to move up the category,
will be contested by the local Kosei Tanaka and the Mexican Christian Bacasegua Rangel.
In his last presentation, Kosei Tanaka knocked out the Colombian Pablo Carrillo in Nagoya.
Photo: Instagram @koseitanaka_5.
Tanaka, 28 years old and owner of a record of 19 wins and 1 loss, has already reigned in the minimum, light fly and fly divisions, and this fight will offer him the chance to write his name in the history books of boxing in his country:
If he wins, he will rise to the podium of Japanese boxers who won titles in four weights
.
So far, only Kazuto Ioka, its only winner, and the omnipresent Inoue have achieved that feat (among women, Naoko Fujioka was champion in five categories).
For Bacasegua Rangel, this will be his first World Cup chance, his first fight outside of Mexico and the first agreed to 12 rounds.
The fighter born in Mexicali 26 years ago arrives at the most important duel of his career with a service record that includes 22 wins (9 before the limit), 4 losses and 2 draws.