Nakatani Edges Hernandez In Tune-up Fight
By Joe Koizumi
Photos By Naoki Fukuda (To Come Soon)
Formerly three-division champ, unbeaten Japanese southpaw Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24KOs), 121.6, had a very tough time coping with unbeaten Mexican trial horse Sebastian Hernandez (20-1, 18 KOs), 120.8, and eked out a debatable unanimous decision (115-113 twice, 118-110) over twelve furious rounds on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This was supposed to be a tune-up bout for Nakatani prior to his greatly expected showdown with undisputed world super bantam champ Naoya Inoue. But Nakatani’s performance was less satisfactory than what we expected since he struggled to handle the non-stop advancing Mexican Hernandez with strong heart. This reporter saw it 114-114, evaluating Hernandez’s aggressiveness in the second half. Nakatani sustained a badly swollen right eye to show his toughest fight of his career.
(More to come)
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