Jyunjin Nakatani, “The World’s Strongest Partner,” predicts a “Summit Showdown” against Ryosuke Nishida on June 8.

‘Nishida will learn the hard way’

Jyunjin Nakatani, 27, has been working hard to get ready for the June 8 WBC/IBF unification bantamweight title match, and IBF champion Ryosuke Nishida, 28, has worked hard to get where he is today, but he is not the same player.

While the WBC champion has become a regular on the top 10 pound-for-pound list, the IBF champion is not even remembered by name in his home country. The “Monster” Naoya Inoue (32) wants to fight Nakatani because he appreciates Nakatani’s ability, and Nishida would not be a mega-fight. There is no way the Tokyo Dome will be filled.

Nakatani spent a month at the annual L.A. camp from April 20, tormenting himself for a total of 268 rounds of sparring. After returning to Japan, Nakatani has continued to talk with himself in order to move on to a new stage.

In the second week of the LA camp, Nakatani united the headgear, gloves, and no-fault cups he uses for sparring in pink. He borrowed a set from his WBO flyweight champion colleague, Anthony Olasuquaga (26), instead of bringing his own. He used Olasuquaga’s belongings until the last day of camp on May 19, laughing, “When I washed them, they didn’t dry.

One year younger than Nakatani, Olasuquaga met the current WBC bantamweight champ, who came from Japan with aspirations, when he was 14 years old.

Rudy Hernandez has been my coach since I was a boy,” Nakatani said. I was in and out of Rudy’s house from the age of eight or nine. I was a good friend of Rudy’s stepson, Mike.

I was a troubled child growing up in a poor family with a single mother raising six children. Rudy took me in as a surrogate father. I still respect and appreciate Rudy from the bottom of my heart.

At first, I didn’t think I would make it as a professional boxer!　I was not thinking that I was going to make it as a professional boxer. I liked soccer and basketball, and I tried boxing at the same time. Then one day, when I was 15 years old, I sparred with Junto and he knocked me down with a body blow. I was so frustrated that I decided I was serious about it.”

Since then, they have been gym mates for more than 10 years.

This time, too, Jundt was highly motivated and worked hard day after day. He has a strong mentality, and he never loses focus at any moment. For me, he is a role model. I’m learning a lot from him. I am always amazed by his boxing ethic.

Just like Muhammad Ali, Jundt is a champion in his behavior away from the ring, his road work, his attitude toward training, how he prepares his body and mind, and how he uses rest.

I asked Olasquaga what he expected from the Nishida fight.

I’ve only seen a couple of fights on YouTube about Nishida, and he has a good jab, and a one-two. He has a good jab and a one-two, but it’s only at the Good level. Jundt’s boxing is excellent and he is super as a champion.

Speed, power, technique, and Jundt greatly surpasses Nishida in all aspects. However, Nishida also has what it takes to win the world title, so he will endure to some extent.

I think he can hold on for 5-6 rounds. There is no doubt that Junto will win by KO. He will realize the difference in ability. His speed and strength are on a different level.

Nakatani “dominates the distance.”

Olasuquaga then spoke about Naoya Inoue, who is on everyone’s radar.

I watched the Inoue vs. Ramon Cardenas fight on TV on May 4. I was really surprised when Inoue went down. I was really surprised to see Inouye go down. However, I don’t feel that Inouye has declined.

I think Inouye thought, “This is an easy fight,” and “I can beat Cardenas easily. I think such a gap led to his downfall. He was looking down on the challenger from the start.

After that blow, Inoue changed his fighting style, saying, “All right, I’m going to fight for real from here! He changed his fighting style. His mentality was clearly different. From the fourth round, he really came into his own.

The WBO flyweight champ continued cheerfully.

To be honest, I had a scare when I went down. I was scared that my big match with Jundt would disappear. I’ve spent a lot of time with Jundt over the years, so I know what he’s capable of. He was born to box. I really believe that.

The Jundt vs. Inouye fight is next year. I’m thinking it would be nice to have a return match with Kenshiro, too, on the undercard. But he said, “I already beat him. There is no merit in doing the match again.

I only had two weeks to prepare for this fight because it was decided on short notice as a substitute. I went down one weight class, and I wish I had more time. …… If the return match is decided, I am confident of winning. If Kenshiro can’t make it, then Yabuki, the IBF flyweight champion, would be fine. I’d like to have a unification fight too (laughs).”

As for the Japanese summit match between Nakatani and “The Monster,” Nakatani said, “Jundt will win.

I think Jundt will win. He will use his reach to dominate the distance. Inouye is fast, but Jundt is also faster than Inouye, and Jundt is smart, so he will dominate the distance. And Jundt is smart, so he will control the ring. He will time it right and bang!　and he will hit a big shot.

Inouye’s pressure is quite high, so I think Jundt will suffer. But I think Jundt will KO him late in the fight or call a referee stoppage. Jundt can counter with every punch. And on a surprising level. You can imagine a scene where Jundt counters and finishes him.”

As a matter of fact, Olasquaga himself has been thrilled by Naoya Inoue’s ring performance.

Inoue is a great fighter. Inoue is a great fighter, and that’s why I look forward to watching him every time he fights. He is a great fighter and one of my favorite fighters. I have taken his style of finishing opponents without fail and the way he applies pressure as a reference.

I hope Inoue can win the fight until the Jundt fight. It will be a great fight. After the fight, Jundt will be number one in the boxing world.”

Olasuquaga did not have a privileged upbringing, struggling to pay the rent for his mother, who raised his three sisters, his older brother, himself, and his younger brother with her own hands.

I really want to rent an apartment for them near L.A.,” she says. But it’s expensive. So she lives in the suburbs, where the rent is half of what it is in L.A. I want to give her a house someday. Someday, I want to give him a house.”

Olasquaga proudly stated that his greatest joy since he started boxing was not becoming a world champion, but buying a brand-new white Corolla with the fight money from his fight against Kenshiro Teraji. He said he wanted to make as much money as he could in the ring and open a barbershop when he retired.

He said, “When I was 17, I had a mentor who became my mentor, and we played basketball together. He gave me a lot of motivation in life. He was also a great haircutter. He cut my hair all the time.

I learned a little bit about cutting from him and decided to take it seriously, so I did a lot of research on YouTube and learned little by little. I cut Jundt’s hair many times. I want to run a store where everyone can smile. Of course, I’m going to put scissors in my customers’ hair, too.

Nakatani aims for a bigger stage, feeling the friendship of the WBO flyweight champion. He will present Olasquaga with a brand-new set of boxing equipment as a thank-you gift for this time.

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