Junto Nakatani


Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization flyweight title from 2020 to 2022 and the WBO junior bantamweight title in 2023, the unified World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation between 2024 and 2025, and the Ring Magazine bantamweight title in 2025.
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Early life

Nakatani's father sent him to karate school when he was in third grade because he was always playing video games. He later transitioned to boxing, where he found greater success due to the sport's weight classes.

Amateur career

Nakatani's amateur career was brief but notable, highlighted by winning the under-15 National Championships. He had an amateur record of 14 wins and 2 losses. At age 17, he turned professional after receiving his C-Class boxing license.

Professional career

Flyweight

Early career

Nakatani made his professional debut on 26 April 2015, scoring a first-round technical knockout victory over Junichi Itoga at the Industrial Hall in Gifu, Japan. He would go on to amass a 9-0 record, and was ranked in the flyweight rankings by the JBC following his victory over Masamichi Yabuki.
Nakatani was scheduled to fight Atiwit Munyapho on 19 February 2017, in the opening round of the Japanese flyweight Youth Tournament. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. He beat Joel Taduran by a fourth-round technical knockout. Nakatani was knocked down for the 1st time in his career by Yuma Kudo but managed to win the fight by majority decision, before facing Seigo Yuri Akui in the tournament finals. He beat Akui by a sixth-round technical knockout. He was further named the tournament MVP.
Nakatani won his next four fights, before being scheduled to fight Naoki Mochizuki for the vacant Japanese flyweight title. He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout. He fought Philip Luis Cuerdo on 1 June 2019, and won the fight by a first-round knockout.
On 23 July 2019, Nakatani vacated the Japanese flyweight title.
Nakatani was scheduled to fight the former IBF and IBO light flyweight champion Milan Melindo on 5 October 2019. He beat Melindo by a sixth-round technical knockout.

Nakatani vs. Magramo

Nakatani was scheduled to fight Giemel Magramo for the vacant WBO flyweight title on 6 November 2020 at the Korakuen Hall. The bout was originally set for April but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was postponed and rescheduled thrice. Nakatani entered the bout as the favorite to win the title. Nakatani dominated the bout, punishing his opponent from range, and landing with more power when Magramo closed in. Nakatani won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout. The referee waved the fight off early on in the round, as Magramo was knocked down with a combination of punches, although Magramo managed to beat the count.

Nakatani vs. Acosta

Nakatani was scheduled to make his first title defense against the former WBO light flyweight champion Ángel Acosta on 29 May 2021, in his native Japan. Increasingly strict COVID-19 regulations imposed by the Japanese government and international travel issues forced the postponement of the bout, with Nakatani's management tentatively announcing the fight for late May or early June. On 26 May 2021, WBO scheduled a 1 June purse bid with a minimum offer of $80,000. That purse bid was canceled on 2 June 2021, as an agreement was made that Nakatani’s promoter, Teiken Promotions, would handle the negotiations. The fight was scheduled for 10 September 2021, in Tucson, Arizona. Nakatani won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout. Nakatani broke Acosta's nose in the opening round of the bout, and both the referee and the ringside physician warned Acosta that the fight would be stopped if his nose suffered more damage. The fight was finally stopped near the end of the fourth round, at the 2:28 minute mark.

Nakatani vs. Yamauchi

Nakatani was booked to make his second WBO flyweight title defense against the reigning WBO Asia Pacific flyweight titleholder Ryota Yamauchi on 9 April 2022. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the Ryōta Murata and Gennadiy Golovkin middleweight unification bout, and took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. He won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout, forcing referee Katsuhiko Nakamura to stop the bout with a flurry of punches at the 2:20 minute mark. Nakatani was leading on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with all three judges' having him up 70–63.

Super flyweight

Nakatani vs. Rodríguez Jr.

Nakatani is going to face the former WBO super flyweight title challenger Francisco Rodríguez Jr. in a super flyweight bout on 1 November 2022. The fight took place on the undercard of the Hiroto Kyoguchi and Kenshiro Teraji title unification bout. Nakatani officially vacated his WBO flyweight title on 27 October. Nakatani won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 98–91, 97–92 and 99–90. Rodríguez Jr. was deducted a point in the seventh round for landing a low blow.

Nakatani vs. Moloney

On 1 January 2023, the reigning WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka was ordered by the sanctioning body to make a mandatory title defense against Nakatani. As Ioka vacated the title on 14 February to pursue a rematch with Joshua Franco, Nakatani was instead ordered to face Andrew Moloney for the vacant championship. The fight took place on 20 May 2023, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. On the night, Nakatani dropped Moloney in the second round with a series of uppercuts. Nakatani scored another knockdown in the eleventh round, before scoring a one-punch knockout in the twelfth round to win the vacant WBO title. The knockout was later voted The Ring magazine Knockout of the Year.

Nakatani vs. Cortes

Nakatani was scheduled to make his first WBO super flyweight title defense against Argi Cortes on 18 September 2023, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. He dropped Cortes 3 times and won the fight by unanimous decision.

WBC Bantamweight Champion

Nakatani vs. Santiago

Nakatani was scheduled to fight Alexandro Santiago for the WBC bantamweight title on 24 February 2024. Nakatani won the fight and the championship by TKO in the 6th round.

Nakatani vs. Astrolabio

Nakatani was scheduled to make the first defense of his WBC bantamweight title against mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 20 July 2024. Nakatani won the fight and retained his title, by scoring bodyshot TKO in the first round.

Nakatani vs. Sor Chitpattana

Nakatani made the second defense of his WBC bantamweight title against Petch Sor Chitpattana on 14 October 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout.

Nakatani vs. Cuellar

Nakatani was scheduled to make the third defense of his WBC bantamweight title against David Cuellar Contreras at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on 24 February 2025. Nakatani knocked down Cuellar two times and won the fight by knockout in the third round.

WBC and IBF Bantamweight Championship Unification

Holding the WBC bantamweight title, Nakatani faced the IBF bantamweight champion Ryosuke Nishida in the championship unification in Tokyo, Japan, on 8 June 2025. He won by stoppage when Nishida retired at the end of the sixth round due to an eye injury.
On 6 August 2025, Nakatani announced his intention to vacate his bantamweight titles and move up to super bantamweight.

Super-bantamweight

Making his super-bantamweight debut, Nakatani defeated Sebastian Hernandez by unanimous decision at Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 27 December 2025.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
32Win32–0Sebastian HernandezUD1227 Dec 2025Mohammed Abdo Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
31Win31–0Ryosuke NishidaRTD6, 3:008 Jun 2025Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBC bantamweight title;
Won IBF and vacant The Ring bantamweight titles
30Win30–0David Cuellar ContrerasKO3, 2:5524 Feb 2025Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBC bantamweight title
29Win29–0Petch Sor ChitpattanaTKO6, 2:5914 Oct 2024Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBC bantamweight title
28Win28–0Vincent AstrolabioKO1, 2:3720 Jul 2024Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBC bantamweight title
27Win27–0Alexandro SantiagoTKO6, 1:1224 Feb 2024Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanWon WBC bantamweight title
26Win26–0Argi CortesUD1218 Sep 2023Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBO junior-bantamweight title
25Win25–0Andrew MoloneyKO12, 2:4220 May 2023MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Won vacant WBO junior-bantamweight title
24Win24–0Francisco Rodríguez Jr.UD101 Nov 2022Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
23Win23–0Ryota YamauchiTKO8, 2:209 Apr 2022Super Arena, Saitama, JapanRetained WBO flyweight title
22Win22–0Ángel AcostaTKO4, 2:2810 Sep 2021Casino del Sol, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.Retained WBO flyweight title
21Win21–0Giemel MagramoTKO8, 2:106 Nov 2020Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon vacant WBO flyweight title
20Win20–0Milan MelindoTKO6, 2:025 Oct 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
19Win19–0Philip Luis CuerdoKO1, 1:231 Jun 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
18Win18–0Naoki MochizukiTKO9, 0:232 Feb 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon vacant Japanese flyweight title
17Win17–0Shun KosakaUD86 Oct 2018Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
16Win16–0Dexter AlimentoKO3, 0:367 Jul 2018Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
15Win15–0Mario Andrade8, 0:4315 Apr 2018Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan
14Win14–0Jeronil Borres1, 1:5620 Jan 2018Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
13Win13–0Seigo Yuri AkuiTKO6, 2:0123 Aug 2017Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon inaugural Japanese Youth flyweight title
12Win12–0Yuma Kudo616 May 2017Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
11Win11–0Joel TaduranTKO4, 0:5316 Apr 2017Messe Mie, Tsu, Japan
10Win10–0Atiwit MunyaphoTKO2, 0:4319 Feb 2017Shinjuku Face, Tokyo, Japan
9Win9–0Masamichi YabukiUD423 Dec 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
8Win8–0Daisuke YamadaTKO1, 1:4013 Nov 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
7Win7–0Satoshi Tanaka2, 3:004 Oct 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
6Win6–0Shu MuramatsuTKO2, 0:1527 Jul 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
5Win5–0Anirut ChomyongTKO1, 1:4328 Apr 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
4Win4–0Tetsuya TomiokaTKO3, 2:1728 Jan 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
3Win3–0Magnum Nishida422 Nov 2015Shinjuku Face, Tokyo, Japan
2Win2–0Akira KokuboTKO4, 1:0617 Jul 2015Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1Win1–0Junichi Itoga1, 1:3326 Apr 2015Industrial Hall, Gifu, Japan

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

''The Ring'' magazine titles

The Ring bantamweight champion

Regional/International titles

Boxing awards