Hernandez outworked Nakatani on the inside from round four. By the tenth, he had a 27-year-old Junto looking ragged, forced to move due to the punishment he’d endured fighting Sebastian toe-to-toe in close.
The fight served as the co-main event of The Ring V: Night of the Samurai, which was headlined by Naoya Inoue.
It marked Nakatani’s first appearance at super bantamweight after moving up from bantamweight earlier in the year, following his decision to vacate his unified titles. The bout was scheduled for 12 rounds and was not contested for a championship.
Nakatani controlled much of the early part of the fight with his activity from the southpaw stance, picking up rounds with his jab and straight left hand while keeping the pace high.
Hernandez took time to settle but became more effective from the middle rounds, particularly on the inside. He increased his volume, worked more consistently on the inside, and forced exchanges that made the fight more physical.
Nakatani absorbed more shots than usual and showed visible swelling around his right eye as the fight wore on, though he continued to answer with cleaner punches in spots.
The fight went to the cards after 12 rounds. Two judges scored it closely, while one card reflected a wider margin than the action suggested. The decision ended Nakatani’s recent run of stoppage wins but showed he could handle the demands of the higher weight class.
Overall, it wasn’t the ideal performance by Nakatani to set the table for a bout against Inoue. It wasn’t an impressive enough fight by Nakatani tonight to get excited about him facing Inoue. Ideally, Junto should fight Reyes again to show that he can win more decisively.
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