Junto Nakatani vs Alexandro Santiago
This Saturday features the bantamweight debut of two-division champion, Junto Nakatani. Nakatani’s first fight at the weight will be for the WBC bantamweight title currently held by Alexandro Santiago. Santiago won the belt last July on the Spence/Crawford undercard against the ‘Filipino Flash,’ boxing legend Nonito Donaire. The two champions face off in the Kokugikan Arena, Tokyo on ESPN+ at 4am EST on a card with two other title fights.
The title fight offers a fresh matchup in the wake of top pound-for-pound boxer Naoya Inoue’s utter domination of the weight. Both the WBA and WBO titlists, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jason Moloney, are a testament to the first ever two-weight undisputed champ Inoue’s strength of schedule, having both won vacant tiles following knockout losses to ‘The Monster.’ Provided Nakatani wins in impressive fashion, there are talks for the two Japanese superstars to potentially fight at super-bantamweight in the near future, adding to the stakes at hand. It would be a blockbuster fight to pit the best knockout artist in boxing today, Inoue, against the winner of boxing’s 2023 ‘Knockout of the Year,’ Nakatani.
JUNTO NAKATANI FIGHT WEEK 🥊#SantiagoNakatani | #InoueAncajas
— COMBAT SPORTS TODAY (@CSTodayNews) February 21, 2024
The Mexican champion is not to be underestimated; coming off a career-best win over a Hall of Famer, Santiago is looking to continue the best win streak of his career. However, Nakatani is the bigger man, despite moving up in weight, and will enjoy a considerable height and reach advantage. Nakatani is a about a 7-to-1 favorite according to Vegas, and for good reason. Yet Santiago is a veteran of thirty-six pro fights, has never been stopped, and has not lost in nearly a decade.
-Philip Walsh
