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 has always said that Rudy is the reason he has come this far, and since the day he met him after graduating from junior high school, he has followed his mentor’s teachings without hesitation. Nakatani has developed the physical and mental strength to handle this.
The mental toughness to finish his prey with 21 seconds until the bell has rung has been honed over the past 10 years in the home of boxing. In his third year of junior high school, when it was time to decide on a career path, Nakatani told his father , “I will not go on to high school. He asked his father to let him come to the U.S. to become a successful professional boxer. Mr. Sumito, who ran an okonomiyaki restaurant and disciplined Nakatani by telling him to “do something different,” was at a loss. Still, he decided to do his utmost to support the man in his chosen path.
I don’t care who the champion is.
When asked who he would like to fight in his next fight, Nakatani replied, “Any champion,” while naming the WBC champion of the same weight class.
The WBO super flyweight champion has been single-mindedly pursuing the goal he has set for himself. He has achieved another dream. But this is not the goal. He is sure to blossom into an even bigger flower.
Interview and text by： Soichi Hayashi
Born in 1969. Passed the professional boxing test as a junior lightweight, but suffered an injury to his left elbow. After working as a reporter for a weekly magazine, he became a nonfiction writer and educator, teaching at a public high school in the U.S. He graduated from the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo, in 2014. He is the author of "Minority Fist," "America's Lower Level Education Site," and "America's Problem Child Regeneration Classroom" (all Kobunsha e-books), "God's Ring," "The Door to the World: Forward! Samurai Blue" and "Hohoite to Nurture Coaching" (all published by Kodansha).
Photography： Ryuto Nakatani
