By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Though long rumored, Ohashi Promotions has finally announced a highly anticipated super fight between undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) and three-division titlist Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) at Tokyo Dome on May 2. Also publicly announced was a WBA bantamweight title bout featuring Naoya’s brother Takuma Inoue (21-2, 5 KOs) against four-division champion Kazuto Ioka (32-4-1, 17 KOs) on the same bill. This is a mouth-watering card for aficionados.
“Monster” Inoue said, “I’ll be in my very best shape in order to defeat Nakatani. May 2 will become a very significant milestone in Japanese boxing history.” Nakatani replied, “By beating Inoue, I wish to prove that I am the very best. I’m sure I’ll be victorious.”
On the undercard of this big show at the Dome (which has a capacity of 55,000) are the following bouts:
Former WBO bantamweight ruler Yoshiki Takei (11-1, 9 KOs) will face WBA Asia super bantamweight champion and WBA #15 contender Dekang Wang (13-1, 7 KOs) of China over eight rounds.
OPBF welterweight champion and former amateur star Sora Tanaka (5-0, 5 KOs) will defend his regional belt against Jin Sasaki (20-2-1, 18 KOs), a former world title challenger against Brian Norman Jr., over ten rounds.
OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight champion Deok-No Yun (10-2-1, 8 KOs) of Korea will put his belts on the line against former Olympian, six-footer Yuito Moriwaki (1-0-1) over ten rounds. This is a grudge fight since their first encounter resulted in a technical draw, with Yun suffering a bad gash from an accidental headbutt.
IBF world featherweight contenders Reiya Abe (28-4-2, 10 KOs) and former national champion Toshiki Shimomachi (22-1-3, 12 KOs) will collide over ten rounds in a survival bout.
The curtain-raiser will be a WBO Asia Pacific flyweight title bout, with defending titlist Kosuke Tomioka (11-4, 8 KOs) facing former amateur star Shogo Tanaka (5-0, 3 KOs) over ten rounds.
The highest ringside seat at the Dome will cost 330,000 Japanese yen (2,130 USD). The pay-per-view charge on Lemino will be 6,050 yen (39 USD). All bouts are expected to be highly competitive matchups for fight fans.
The promoters are Ohashi Promotions (presided over by former WBC and WBA minimumweight champion Hideyuki Ohashi) in association with Teiken Promotions (headed by Hall of Famer Akihiko Honda).
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