<figure id="attachment_332726" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-332726" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1db7e300"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/a31af61489171ee8d39fca43ec5d6fc6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-332726" class="wp-caption-text">He showed his technique by taking Cortez down three times with his body. He was almost unscathed and overwhelmed, saying &#8220;the only damage was some muscle soreness.</figcaption></figure>
 On September 18, Jyunjin Nakatani, 25, defended his WBO super flyweight title with a 12 round decision win in the ring at the Ariake Arena. It was a complete victory, taking down the challenger, Arj Cortez (28), three times.
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 This was Nakatani&#8217;s first defense of the WBO super flyweight title, having won the world title in two weight classes following the flyweight title. The theme of the fight was &#8220;win carefully.
 Right from the start of the fight, Nakatani feinted with his right fist and side-swiped with his jab, a strategy he had tried many times during the 236 rounds of sparring he did during his stay in Los Angeles from July 20 to September 2. He did not allow Cortes, a bull fighter, to get too close and fought at his own distance throughout the fight.
 Nakatani always practices by assuming the worst-case scenario in a fight. His 236 rounds in the LA camp were more than double the number of top Japanese fighters in world title fights. Many Japanese fighters who hear this number say, &#8220;If I spar that much, I will break down.
 Nakatani, who had sparred with a number of partners, imagining himself in a tight spot, prepared himself for the defense. Cortez, on the other hand, spent 10 weeks sparring 18 rounds a week to challenge for the WBO super flyweight title.
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 The champion recalls.
 &#8216;Cortez was having a hard time getting into my pocket, so I took a position that he didn&#8217;t like even more. I thought I could jab more, but my opponent had a wide range of movement from side to side, moving his head and so on, so I spent more time following him with my eyes. During the interval, he instructed me to &#8216;hit him in the gloves with a jab, then hit him in the face,&#8217; which I did.&#8221;
 In the fifth round, Nakatani sank Cortez with a straight left hand from long range aimed at the dove-tail (groin). After spitting out his mouthpiece to buy time for the challenger, he landed two more right hooks to the body, sending him to his knees on the canvas again.
 I expected the body to hit,&#8221; Cortes said, &#8220;but my initial plan was to land a left body hook when my opponent landed a straight right hand. But I was hungry, so I landed a straight left, and the second time Cortez went down, it was a fluke. The second time Cortez went down, I went for it because he was damaged and wasn&#8217;t guarding his body.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Three downs in a polite fight"></div>
Nakatani sank his opponent twice and felt it was only a matter of time before he would win by knockout, but the next six rounds saw him lose the only point of the fight. He was hit cleanly with a right hand by the challenger, who came out to throw him off balance.
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 It wasn&#8217;t a punch I didn&#8217;t anticipate, but I got hit when I was off balance, and I thought, &#8216;Oh, I got hit at the wrong time. It didn&#8217;t look good. I was trying to keep my distance and control the ring.
 My trainer, Rudy Hernandez (60), repeatedly told me that Cortes is a dangerous fighter, so I fought carefully. He is the type of fighter who will throw a heavy blow when he gets close. That&#8217;s why I tried not to get hit. &#8230;&#8230;
<figure id="attachment_332727" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-332727" style="width: 1046px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9b309727"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/77578125c7d55af645ee0fc4e1820dbd.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-332727" class="wp-caption-text"> Before the fight, Nakatani checked the condition of the canvas and ropes in the ring</figcaption></figure>
 Nakatani dominated the rest of the fight, but Cortes was a tough fighter who was willing to endure and advance. Nakatani struck to the body again in the ninth round, taking him down for the third time. However, Nakatani, who had set himself the task of &#8220;fighting carefully,&#8221; chose not to go deep, but to make sure to take him down.
 Cortez had the punching power, and I felt it was important to break him down rather than forcing a KO. I hoped to create a knockout scene with my rhythm. I expected him to come in more aggressive. So there were parts during the fight where I felt like, &#8216;Is it okay to be so controlled? When I got close, he would throw heavy punches, so I had to be careful. At my own distance, it was easy to fight.&#8221;
 In the 12th round, Nakatani came storming in, and in the bout that earned him the WBO super flyweight belt, he slaughtered his opponent with a brilliant counter left hook with 39 seconds left in the final round. It was an attack reminiscent of that scene.
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 I wanted to finish him,&#8221; he said. I wanted to finish him, but boxing is about the opponent,&#8221; said Cortes. I also recognize that Cortes did a great job, and I think that the 12-round fight was an experience that will lead to the next fight.
 Rudy Hernandez has been supporting Juntaro Nakatani since he was 15 years old when he went to the U.S. by himself to learn the boxing style of the home country. Rudy Hernandez, the trainer who has supported Junjin Nakatani since then and continues to support him today, thought that Cortes would have a more difficult time this time.
 Cortez is really tough,&#8221; Hernandez said. He&#8217;s got plenty of punching power, and he&#8217;s a world-ranked fighter with a nasty style that doesn&#8217;t stop and keeps coming forward. Junto made a huge difference, and that&#8217;s due to his ability.&#8221;
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Nakatani was &quot;the one that hurt him the most.&quot;"></div>
<figure id="attachment_332728" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-332728" style="width: 1169px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="de316de4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/09/18d21ae434cec2b53bf4ec27e0718f45.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-332728" class="wp-caption-text">At the weigh-in, Nakatani&#8217;s cheeks were puckered up, and the press voiced their concern.</figcaption></figure>
 And even more than the challenger, it was Nakatani&#8217;s weight loss that made him suffer this time. He passed the weigh-in at 1:00 p.m. on the day before the match, 100 g underweight, but there was a stir among the press when they saw Nakatani, dressed in a black top and bottom jersey.
 His cheeks were gaunt and his eyes were sunken. It was last summer that Nakatani decided to vacate his WBO flyweight title and move up to super flyweight. This would be his third fight at 115 pounds, but Nakatani, still growing at 172 cm tall, had to drop from over 61 kg to 52.16 kg, even with his usual moderation. That was a difficult task.
 After the Cortez fight, Rudy said.
 I think it&#8217;s better to move him up to bantam now, considering his health and the way he fights. If the big names in super fly won&#8217;t fight him, then there is no need to make sacrifices.&#8221;
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 When Nakatani decided to move up one weight class from flyweight, Rudy said, &#8220;Bantam is the right weight for Jundt. Here, he can show his true potential. However, at the LA camp for the Cortez fight, Rudy said, &#8220;I think it will be a year and a half or two years before I fight.
 However, Nakatani, who pushes himself like a seeker and works hard, has muscles in his body, which naturally get bigger. Every boxer must experience weight gain as he or she ages.
 It has been a little over eight years since Nakatani stepped into the professional ring for the first time on April 26, 2015, at the age of 17. Nakatani, who has now won 26 fights with 19 KOs and two world titles, is no exception.
 Some in the Nakatani camp are saying, &#8221; This is the last time I will fight at super flyweight,&#8221; but how does Nakatani see it?
 Nakatani said, &#8220;I have a strong desire to fight a unification fight at super flyweight. It is true that the weight cut was tough, but it did not affect me to the extent that my legs cramped up. I was able to build up my condition for the fight and fight in my best condition.
 However, I still feel that I can perform better if I move up to bantam. If I don&#8217;t have any big fights lined up, I think it would be okay to move up.
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 In the near future, Nakatani will probably move up to the 118-pound (53.52 kg) bantamweight division. If he vacates his title and moves up one weight class, he would immediately become No. 1 in the WBO rankings and be eligible to challenge for a nomination. Currently, the WBO bantamweight champion is Jason Moloney (32). He is the twin brother of Andrew Moloney, whom Nakatani fought when he won the belt he holds. The WBA title is also held by Takuma Inoue. Either way, this is sure to be a hotly anticipated fight.
 If a unification fight at super flyweight is to be decided, it will be between WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada (33) or IBF champion Fernando Martinez (32). Nakatani has publicly stated that he would like to fight any champion, but Kazusho Ioka, who holds the WBA title in the same weight class, has a history of avoiding fights.
 In any case, he will surely achieve a three-weight championship. Keep your eyes on Jyunjin Nakatani, who keeps on running.

 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. In 1996, he moved to 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).

 Soichi Hayashi

 Soichi Hayashi, Jiji Press (game)

 Nakatani, who won his second super flyweight division in just two fights, also won his defense with a convincing victory. However, the "Next Monster" had a surprising problem. Unification or bantam? The time to decide is approaching!

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