Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Predictions: Unbeaten battle to be the next ‘Kaibutsu’

WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani faces IBF titlist Ryosuke Nishida in a unification fight at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. The bout takes place on Sunday, June 8 with the undercard featuring world-ranked fellow bantam Tenshin Nasukawa and 2021 World Amateur Champion Tomoya Tsubo. ESPN+ will screen the event in America but, as with Saturday’s Keyshawn Davis fight, there is no UK broadcaster announced due to Sky Sports’ deal with Top Rank expiring last month.

Here are my Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida predictions ahead of this clash of the champions.

Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Odds

Nakatani is a big favourite at 1/16. Nishida is 7/1, the longest prize of his pro career so far. The draw is 20/1.

Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Fight Preview

Japan has had a stranglehold on bantamweight boxing in recent years. ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, vacated his undisputed crown in 2023. In June 2025, three of the four belts are held by Japanese fighters. The outlier is Antonio Vargas’ WBA crown. But even then, Naoya’s younger brother Takuma Inoue and countryman Seiya Tsutsumi have held it since it was vacated, with Vargas only upgraded from interim to full champion due to the latter being unable to defend the title on medical grounds due to emergency brain surgery.

In short, Japan dominates the 118lb weight class and has done so for a long time. That fact will not be altered on Saturday, where two undefeated stars, one from Inabe and one from Osaka, seek to unify a pair of championships.

Boxing is a forward-thinking business with little time for sentiment. That is why, despite the current version being 32 and still winning, the kingmakers of the canvas are looking to anoint “the next Naoya Inoue”. 

Nakatani is the fighter for whom the crown has weighed least heavily. 30-0 with 23 knockouts, ‘Big Bang’ is living up to his name. A former WBO champion at flyweight and super flyweight; Nakatani’s arrival at bantamweight could not have been timed better.

Beyond the 27-year-old being tagged as Inoue’s heir apparent, there is understandably a real desire to see the pair meet in the ring before ‘Kaibutsu’ retires. It would be the biggest all-Japanese fight in history and the biggest boxing event in the country since James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked the world against Mike Tyson in 1990.

But Nishida is not here as a soft-touch to lay the table for the super-fight. You do not beat Daigo Hida in your fourth fight unless you are a serious talent. You do not defeat Emmanuel Rodriguez to capture the IBF belt in your ninth if you are a willing patsy.

Nishida is the underdog and a rather sizable one. But he is a deserving champion. Nakatani is truly special and often, in the wake of an unbelievable fighter, very good fighters suffer. 10-0 with just two knockouts does not pop on paper, particularly in the wake of Nakatani’s 30-0. But Nishida has been very economical. His third fight was against a former world title challenger. His fourth against an ex-champion. There is very little fat on his ledger, which is a necessity if you are going to be a world champion by your 10th outing.

Amazingly, Nishida is actually the older man by a year despite only having a third of the pro fights that Nakatani has. Nishida turned professional in October 2019 while Nakatani won his first world title a month later. These are two unbeaten Japanese world champions who have very little in common beyond their nationality and belts.

Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Full Card

Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida

Tenshin Nasukawa vs Victor Santillan

Van Thao Tran vs Tomoya Tsubo

Riku Miyashita vs Toya Oshima

Riku Masuda vs Michell Banquez

Rukia Okubo vs Takumi Yoneya

Junto Nakatani vs Ryosuke Nishida Prediction

Nakatani is starting to take on that unassailable air that Inoue had a few years back. The idea that his fights have crossed from predictable into inevitable. That is perhaps not a fair assessment of Nishida, but then think of the incredible champions Inoue reduced to rubble.

Nakatani is one a four-fight run of knockout wins with every single one coming no later than the sixth round. 

Petch CP Freshmart had not lost in six years and had never been stopped before Nakatani did it in six. David Cuellar Contreras was 28-0 and lasted three rounds. Vincent Astrolabio, who took Jason Moloney to the wire in a majority decision defeat for the WBO belt, never made it out of the first round against ‘Big Bang’. Then the fight that started the bantamweight dynasty, as WBC kingpin Alexandro Santiago was KO’ed in the sixth round.

Nishida is an excellent fighter and a worthy IBF ruler. But he is the right man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nakatani can stand and bang with a guy who works hard but has only got two of his 10 victims out early. Nishida’s talent will steer him back to a world belt. But Nakatani’s fury will dethrone the southpaw of the one he currently has. I’m going for Nakatani to walk out as the unified champion inside the distance, with the knockout priced at 8/13.

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