The Japanese super fight goes down on Saturday with the undisputed junior featherweight title on the line
By Brent Brookhouse May 1, 2026 at 10:35 am ET • 3 min read 
Getty Images One of the best boxing matches that could be made in the sport goes down Saturday in Tokyo, though this pairing of elite fighters seems to be mostly flying under the radar. That fight features undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue putting his four world championships on the line against former three-division champion Junto Nakatani.
Inoue, the current No. 1 fighter in CBS Sports' pound-for-pound rankings, has climbed through weight class after weight class, someone carrying his devastating power up in weight the entire way.
In 2014, Inoue won the WBC junior flyweight title in just his sixth pro fight. Two fights later, he took the WBO junior bantamweight title from Omar Narvaez. Inoue would successfully defend that belt seven times before moving to bantamweight.
Inoue became a superstar after the bantamweight move, crushing the competition in the World Boxing Super Series, picking up the WBA, IBF and Ring championships and beating Nonito Donaire in a fantastic bout in the tournament final. A rematch with Donaire a few years later added the WBC title to Inoue's collection before he became undisputed champion with a stoppage of Paul Butler that gave him the WBO belt.
Not content to remain at one weight, Inoue immediately jumped to junior featherweight and crushed unified champion Stephen Fulton to win the WBC and WBO belts. One fight later, Inoue was undisputed champion for the second time in his career after winning the WBA and IBF titles with a knockout of Marlon Tapales.
Inoue has defended his current four world titles a stunning six times, with four of those wins coming by knockout.
Nakatani does not have as storied a career, but at No. 8 in the pound-for-pound rankings, he has more than proven himself to be a true elite in the sport.
Nakatani won the WBO flyweight title in the 21st fight of his career and defended the belt a few times before following Inoue's lead and moving up in weight, capturing the WBO junior bantamweight title with a brutal Knockout of the Year of Andrew Moloney.
Nakatani would again move up two fights later, this time defeating Alexandro Santiago for the WBC bantamweight crown before eventually adding the IBF and Ring titles with a win over Ryosuke Nishida.
Now, Nakatani looks to take the crown from Inoue in a clash of Japanese superstars, pound-for-pound elites and multi-division champions.
Let's take a closer look at the rest of the undercard for Saturday along with how you can watch the action before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event below.
Inoue vs. Nakatani fight card, odds
Odds via DraftKings
- Naoya Inoue (c) -400 vs. Junto Nakatani +300, undisputed junior featherweight title
- Takuma Inoue (c) -265 vs. Kazuto Ioka +205, WBC bantamweight title
- Sora Tanaka -115 vs. Jin Sasaki -110, welterweights
- Shogo Tanaka -380 vs. Kosuke Tomioka +280, flyweights
- Yuito Moriwaki -550 vs. Deok No Yun +380, super middleweights
- Reiya Abe vs. Toshiki Shimomachi, featherweights
Where to watch Inoue vs. Nakatani
- Date: May 2 | Location: Tokyo Dome -- Tokyo
- Start time: 3 a.m. ET (main event ringwalks approximately 8 a.m. ET)
- Live stream: DAZN (subscription required)
Prediction
The odds are wider than they should be for this fight. Nakatani is a very dangerous fighter, and he holds some key advantages coming in. Nakatani has good length and uses it well to control distance, which will force Inoue to have to walk through some fire to get into range where he can go to work with his big shots. Nakatani is also a southpaw, which could be key as Inoue has been dropped twice by left hooks in recent years. If Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas can get to Inoue and drop him with left hooks, Nakatani is more than capable of doing the same.
Inoue is a special fighter, though, and he has shown a renewed commitment to body attacks in recent fights. That could pay off if he can close distance and get to Nakatani's torso. As long as Inoue can work his way inside, he is the better close-quarters boxer and that body attack will bring Nakatani's hands down and leave his chin open.
This is a great fight and it's fantastic for the sport that it got made. A blowout seems unlikely, but Inoue should be able to edge out the fight in the end. Pick: Naoya Inoue via UD
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