Junto Nakatani faces Ryosuke Nishida on June 8 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The pair square off in a 12-round all-Japanese bantamweight championship unification with two belts at stake. In the U.S., the event airs live on ESPN+.
Three-division world champion Junto Nakatani (30-0, 23 KOs) puts his WBC belt on the line. The 27-year-old southpaw makes the fourth defense of his title and looks to claim the IBF strap. In his previous bout in February, Nakatani dropped and stopped David Cuellar Contreras in the third round.
Ryosuke Nishida (10-0, 2 KOs) brings his IBF 118-pound strap to the ring. The 28-year-old southpaw made his first successful defense by knockout in the seventh round against Anuchai Donsua last December, after dethroning Emmanuel Rodriguez by unanimous decision last May.
The co-feature is a 10-round bantamweight bout between Japanese former kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa (6-0, 2 KOs) and Victor Santillan (14-1, 5 KOs) of the Dominican Republic. The Nakatani vs Nishida telecast opener is a 10-round bout for the WBO Asia Pacific 118 lbs belt between Tomoya Tsuboi (1-0, 1 KO) of Japan and Tran Van Thao (18-1, 10 KOs) of Vietnam.