I feel refreshed!” Jyunjin Nakatani reveals with a smile the behind-the-scenes story of his “2 weight class win by KO with a shudder!

Nakatani, who defended his WBO flyweight title twice, had one tune-up fight at super flyweight last November. In preparation for the Moroni fight, he camped in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., from the end of March. The number of sparring rounds he did, mainly with world-ranked fighters, was 209 rounds. His first defense of the WBO flyweight title was also held in Tucson, Arizona, but the fans in the boxing mecca of Las Vegas were more discerning.

Whenever I landed a punch, the crowd would erupt. Also, the ring was lit up, so I could see all over the place. I could clearly see the faces of my parents at ringside. They came all the way from Japan to support me, and I wanted to show them a good match.

Moroni’s twin brother, Jason, had won the WBO bantamweight title a week earlier.

I expected him to come in with a strong mindset, saying, “We are going to be world champions together as brothers. I was right, and they came out strong from the first round.

Nakatani landed sharp jabs and used his step work to deal with Moloney’s advances. Then, in the second round, he hit a double left uppercut followed by a right uppercut to the chin, taking him down.

He said, “I kept practicing changing my foot position a little bit in the flow and adjusting to where he was coming in. Another theme was to use more jabs. I was able to do that as planned.”

Nakatani had a good start, but in the third round, he was hit by a head butt from Moloney and cut above his left eye. Fresh blood dripped down.

I got a little blood in my left eye, but I could see it if I rubbed it,” Nakatani said. I left that part to Rudy.

Rudy Hernandez, Nakatani’s trainer since the age of 15, is also a renowned cutter. Nevertheless, in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds, he was involved in close combat with Moloney, and there were several times when he was pushed back.

Moroney was stubborn,” Hernandez said, “and he increased the pressure, going for my wounds and batting me back down. When we clinched, the second told me to turn to the side. Moroney did a lot of hand work, so I guess the other side got the point…”

Before the start of the eighth round, Rudy told the fighter, “You’re hitting a good uppercut,” and also reminded him to “hit and move away, and hit and move away again.

After I hit him with a jab, I tried to get a little distance and side with him.” Then I gradually got back into a rhythm. Moroni was tired, so I was fighting with the feeling that if I landed a strong punch, he would fall.

I had been practicing placing my fist on my forehead to avoid batting Moroni, but in the fight, I blocked with my head. I regret that.”