Jyunjin Nakatani, “Heir to the Monster,” talks about his next fight and Naoya Inoue’s super techniques

A month and a half has passed since Jyunjin Nakatani (25) won a two-weight championship with a shuddering KO in Las Vegas, the home of boxing in the United States.

Nakatani, who is tall in the super flyweight division at 170 cm, laughed, “I gained 8 kg since my title match against Andrew Moloney (32 ).” Even so, he looks fit. The proper weight is still obvious. That is why he is expected to become the first Japanese fighter to win six weight classes.

I resumed gym work on July 6. When I put on the headgear, it bit into my cheeks and I had a hard time (laughs). I’m going to the U.S. again on July 20 with (my brother) Ryuto, and we’re going to set up a camp there. I think I will be able to squeeze it in there right away.

Waiting for him in the U.S. is Rudy Hernandez, the famous trainer who has been coaching Nakatani since he was 15 years old. It has been 10 years since Nakatani became an apprentice of Rudy Hernandez, who came to the U.S. alone after graduating from junior high school, saying, “I want to become a world champion. Nakatani was called “Monster 2,” not “Next Monster,” by Gushiken Yoshitaka, Takehara Shinji, Hatayama Takanori, and others. He is already the best in the super flyweight division.

When I met Rudy, I was filled with a sense of tension: “If I don’t get his approval, I will never become a world champion. So, how could I get him to recognize me?　Rudy emphasizes real competition, and we would spar in the morning and in the afternoon, but as we sparred more and more.” I realized that he appreciated players who understood the instructions accurately and carried them out faithfully. Since then, for the past 10 years, that has been my focus.

At the training camp prior to the title match, the southpaw Nakatani was instructed to spar in an orthodox (right-handed stance). The scenery he saw changed drastically, and he was hit by a bullet. However, it helped him to land a weighted right uppercut to Moloney’s jaw in the World Championships.

Rudy’s coaching is really unique. For example, he said, ‘Jundt, I have some bad news. In the next round, you’re not going to get out of your corner and just dodge punches. You are not allowed to raise your arms. If you break this rule, you’ll have to do push-ups. He’s a bad boy. Sanction him with the body only. And that helps in a real fight. Before this title match, in addition to orthodox sparring, we had three sets of 15-minute sparring. ‘Jundt, you sweat a lot, and it will help you lose weight, right?’ (laughs). There were a lot of students in the gym, and Rudy couldn’t watch them all at the same time, but he had his eyes on them all. Even if he is far away, he hears the sound of me hitting the sandbag and tells me to hit properly.