The highly anticipated superfight between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani has been confirmed for the exact date and location that were expected.
Inoue vs. Nakatani will headline on Saturday, May 2 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, according to Mike Coppinger of The Ring magazine. Those are the date and the venue that had long been targeted, per a report from BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan in early January.
Inoue, 32-0 (27 KOs), is the undisputed junior featherweight champion and previously reigned as undisputed at bantamweight and won world titles at junior bantamweight and junior flyweight. He made four successful defenses in 2025, knocking out Ye Joon Kim in January; stopping Ramon Cardenas in their war in May; and taking unanimous decisions over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September and Alan David Picasso in December.
Nakatani, 32-0 (24 KOs), is a former three-division titleholder who won world titles at flyweight and junior bantamweight and then unified a pair of belts at bantamweight. In 2025, he made short work of David Cuellar in February; stopped Ryosuke Nishida in their June unification bout; and then moved up to 122lbs in December on the undercard of Inoue-Picasso, surviving a very tough challenge from unbeaten Sebastian Hernandez via unanimous decision.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
