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Hernandez outplayed Nakatani on the inside as early as the fourth round. In the tenth, he had a 27-year-old Junto looking ragged, forced to move due to the punishment he had endured fighting Sebastian in hand-to-hand combat.
The fight served as the co-main event of The Ring V: Night of the Samurai, which was headlined by Naoya Inoue.
This was Nakatani’s first appearance at super bantamweight after moving up from bantamweight earlier in the year, following his decision to relinquish his unified titles. The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds and was not contested for a championship.
Nakatani controlled much of the start of the fight with his activity from the southpaw stance, picking up balls with his jab and straight left hand while keeping a high pace.
Hernandez took some time to settle in but became more effective in the middle rounds, especially on the inside. He increased his volume, worked more consistently on the inside and forced exchanges that made the fight more physical.
Nakatani absorbed more shots than usual and showed visible swelling around his right eye as the fight progressed, although he continued to respond with cleaner punches in spots.
The fight went down to cards after 12 rounds. Two judges scored it closely, while one card reflected a wider margin than the action suggested. The move ended Nakatani’s recent string of stoppage victories, but showed he could meet the demands of the higher weight class.
Overall, it wasn’t the ideal performance from Nakatani to set the table for a fight against Inoue. It wasn’t an impressive enough fight from Nakatani tonight to get excited about him facing Inoue. Ideally, Junto should fight Reyes again to show he can win more decisively.
