Junto Nakatani reportedly set to make US debut in first world title defense!
Back on June 2nd "The Gondol" reported that the purse bids for the WBO Flyweight world title bout, between champion Junto Nakatani (21-0, 16) [中谷 潤人] and mandatory challenger Angel Acosta (22-2, 21), had been cancelled with the two teams agreeing that Teiken would take control of sorting the bout out.
Today it was reported by a leading Japanese boxing site that Teiken have indeed sorted the details of the bout out, along with close American allies Top Rank, with Akihiko Honda revealing the bout will take place on a Top Rank card in Arizona on Friday September 10th!
It was revealed that the original plan had been to hold the bout on May 29th, something that was widely reported, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, however those planned were scrapped before they were ever officially announced due to an uptick in Covid19 cases in Japan. That up tick resulted in a number of regions going into a state of emergency, including the region where the fight was being planned.
For Nakatani the bout a huge one, especially on the back of his title win against Giemel Magramo last year. It will not only be his first defense of the WBO title, but it will also be his international debut, and his first chance to show a global audience what he can really do. It will also be a fantastic chance to build a fan base, and link a potential longer term deal with Top Rank, who are one of the biggest promoters in the world and have long been allies of Teiken.
As for Acosta this will be a chance for him to become a 2-weight world champion, having previously held the WBO Light Flyweight title, and get chance to take a win over a Japanese fighter after Kosei Tanaka (15-1, 9) [田中恒成] gave him his first loss, back in 2017.
Today it was reported by a leading Japanese boxing site that Teiken have indeed sorted the details of the bout out, along with close American allies Top Rank, with Akihiko Honda revealing the bout will take place on a Top Rank card in Arizona on Friday September 10th!
It was revealed that the original plan had been to hold the bout on May 29th, something that was widely reported, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, however those planned were scrapped before they were ever officially announced due to an uptick in Covid19 cases in Japan. That up tick resulted in a number of regions going into a state of emergency, including the region where the fight was being planned.
For Nakatani the bout a huge one, especially on the back of his title win against Giemel Magramo last year. It will not only be his first defense of the WBO title, but it will also be his international debut, and his first chance to show a global audience what he can really do. It will also be a fantastic chance to build a fan base, and link a potential longer term deal with Top Rank, who are one of the biggest promoters in the world and have long been allies of Teiken.
As for Acosta this will be a chance for him to become a 2-weight world champion, having previously held the WBO Light Flyweight title, and get chance to take a win over a Japanese fighter after Kosei Tanaka (15-1, 9) [田中恒成] gave him his first loss, back in 2017.