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Nick Parkinson
WBC world bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani scored two knockdowns on his way to a Round 3 knockout win over David Cuellar on Monday, which sets up a world title unification fight for later this year.
Nakatani (30-0, 23 KOs), 27, breezed to a third title defence at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, to stay on course for an all-Japanese world title unification fight later this year, most likely against Ryosuke Nishida.
Three-weight world champion Nakatani, of Kanagawa, Japan, wants to unify the titles at bantamweight and in this form he looks likely to achieve that feat.
The other world champions at 118 pounds are all Japanese: Seiya Tsutsumi (WBA), Nishida (IBF) and Yoshiki Takei (WBO).
Nakatani, asked what’s next for him after the victory, said “let’s unify,” a reference to Nishida who currently holds the IBF world bantamweight title.
Nishida expressed a similar keenness, responding with “come on, let’s do it” as the pair stood side by side in the ring.
There is also a potential blockbuster fight against fellow Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs), ESPN’s No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound boxer and undisputed world junior featherweight champion, for later in 2025.
Nakatani, who trains in Los Angeles with coach Rudy Hernandez, has won all four of his fights at bantamweight by stoppage and showed why he is one of the most entertaining boxers in the sport today as he gave Cuellar (28-1, 18 KOs), 23, from Querataro in Mexico, a painful introduction to elite level boxing in the challenger’s first world-title fight.
Cuellar had a slight height advantage, and was the tallest opponent Nakatani has faced. But it did not take Nakatani long to make a dent in the challenger as he dropped him in the corner in Round 3 for the first time following a slew of body shots, two right hooks and then a left hand through the guard to the jaw.
After the count, Nakatani followed up with two left hooks that left Cuellar sinking down the ropes and onto the canvas and the fight was over.
Also on the card, Nakatani’s rival world champion Seiya Tsutsumi (12-03, 8 KOs) held on to his WBA bantamweight title in a first defence via a draw in his gripping rematch with Diago Higa (21-3-2, 19 KOs).
All three judges scored an entertaining fight 114-114, after both Japanese fighters visited the canvas in a thrilling Round 9.
Higa dropped Tsutsumi with a counter left-hook, but the champion hit back and Higa crashed down face first from a right hand.
Tsutsumi, who was badly cut in Round 4 from a clash of heads, also drew with Higa in a 10-round bout in 2020.
Also on the bill, kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa (6-0, 2 KOs) earned a unanimous points decision (97-93, 97-93, 98-92) over former world champion Jason Moloney for the best win of his boxing career.
Moloney (27-4, 19 KOs), 34, from Australia, landed some solid shots in a strong finish but was outworked and outboxed by Nasukawa, 26, from Tokyo, who faced Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an exhibition bout in 2018.
Moloney lost his world title on points to Takei in his last fight in May and this was Nasukawa’s best win so far.