The next fight of Junto Nakatani has been confirmed against David Cuellar Contreras at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on February 24. The pair square off atop the fight card live on ESPN+. The world championship bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Undefeated Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) makes the third defense of his WBC bantamweight title. The Japanese champion stopped Tasana Salapat in the sixth round in October and Vincent Astrolabio in the first round in July. In February, the 26-year-old southpaw dethroned Alexandro Santiago via sixth-round TKO to become a three-division king.
Unbeaten David Cuellar Contreras (28-0, 18 KOs) makes his international debut and the first attempt to lift one of four major belts. The 23-year-old Mexican challenger defeated Jose Velasquez and Pablo Ariel Gomez by unanimous decision in May and January, respectively.
In the co-feature, Seiya Tsutsumi takes on Daigo Higa. The all-Japanese world championship matchup is also scheduled for 12 rounds.
29-year-old Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KOs) makes the first defense of his WBA bantamweight title that he claimed by unanimous decision against Takuma Inoue in October. 29-year-old former flyweight champion Higa (21-3-1, 19 KOs) looks to bounce back from the defeat by UD against Yoshiki Takei in September and once again become champion.
Also on the Nakatani vs Cuellar undercard is a bantamweight bout between Tenshin Nasukawa and Jason Moloney. The contest is scheduled for 10 rounds.
26-year-old former kickboxing champion Nasukawa (5-0, 2 KOs) of Japan defeated Gerwin Asilo by unanimous decision in October and eliminated Jonathan Rodriguez and Luis Robles Pacheco in the third round in July and January, respectively. Australia’s 33-year-old former bantamweight champion Moloney (27-3, 19 KOs) looks to get back in the win column, after dropping a unanimous decision against Yoshiki Takei in May.