Andreas Hale
Multiple Authors
Boxing’s worst-kept secret has now been confirmed as Naoya Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) and Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) will meet on May 2 at Tokyo Dome for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship.
The All-Japan showdown was formally announced at a news conference in Japan. The fight will air live on Lemino pay-per-view; U.S. distribution rights have yet to be announced.
Inoue — ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer — is coming off an impressive 2025 in which he competed four times with wins over Kim Ye-Joon, Ramon Cardenas, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and David Picasso. Inoue’s unanimous decision win over Picasso in December also saw Nakatani in the co-main event squeezing by Sebastian Hernandez in a tougher-than-expected fight. Their wins secured the highly anticipated clash between Japan’s two best fighters.
Nakatani is ranked No. 6 on ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings and will look to become a four-division champion after holding world titles at bantamweight, junior bantamweight and flyweight. Although he narrowly won his junior featherweight debut in a grueling showdown with Hernandez, Nakatani has proved to be one of the best fighters in the world and had a strong showing in 2025 by going 3-0.
The undercard will feature Inoue’s younger brother, Takuma, defending his WBC bantamweight title against former four-division titleholder Kazuto Ioka.
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