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Judge Scorecard Comparison
Comparison of judges' scores for the Inoue vs. Nakatani bout.
Primary Sources
Japan's Inoue beats Nakatani to retain undisputed super bantamweight title
Naoya Inoue wins 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 in a fight billed as the biggest boxing match in Japanese history.Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue has retained his undisputed super bantamweight world title with a unanimous decision victory over compatriot Junto Nakatani after a gripping 12-round contest in Tokyo.Inoue said he was “relieved” to beat Nakatani and stay unbeaten in front of 55,000 fans at a sold-out Tokyo Dome on Saturday.The 33-year-old, famous as the Monster, extended his winning streak in world title bouts to 28 as judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 116-112 in his favour.“It was different to the fights I’ve had before, with the pressure. So I’m relieved that I won,” Inoue said afterwards.“I don’t know if tonight was a legendary night or not, but that’s coming soon.“Tonight isn’t the end point of my boxing career, and there’s still time to create more legendary occasions.”Inoue and Nakatani in action during their super bantamweight championship bout [Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP]Both boxers entered the bout unbeaten at 32-0 in a contest billed as the biggest boxing match in Japanese history after Nakatani moved up a division late last year.Inoue charged early before Nakatani appeared to close the gap in the latter half of the fight as the pace intensified, but a clash of heads late in the 10th round opened a cut above the challenger’s eye and stalled his momentum.“Today I executed the plan that I’d been saying before the fight, to stay focused on winning, to make sure I was the one who came out as the winner,” Inoue said.“As you all know, Nakatani is a mentally strong boxer. The fact that he is in the [top 10] pound-for-pound rankings makes this win worthwhile.”The win improved Inoue’s overall record to 33 victories, with 27 knockouts (KOs).Nakatani, who has held world titles in three different weight classes, was looking to catapult himself into the sport’s top echelons with a win.Nicknamed “Big Bang”, the 28-year-old regularly features in The Ring magazine’s top 10 pound-for-pound rankings, which rate the world’s best boxers regardless of weight class.He was fighting only his second bout at super bantamweight, and he used his longer reach to hold Inoue at bay early in the fight.But he was powerless to prevent his opponent scoring with a series of pinpoint shots, before an accidental headbutt opened up a cut above his eye that troubled him late in the fight.“I prepared for lots of different eventualities, so I wasn’t really surprised b...
Naoya Inoue v Junto Nakatani: undisputed super-bantamweight ...
Key events18h agoInoue beats Nakatani by unanimous decision20h agoTale of the tape20h agoTakama Inoue retains WBC 118lb title21h agoPreambleShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThat’ll do it for our live coverage. Thanks for sticking with us through internet difficulties in Tokyo! Full fight report coming soon.Here’s the official scorecard from tonight’s main event:The scorecard from Saturday’s fight. Photograph: Bryan Armen Graham/The GuardianInoue was able to turn back a hardy Nakatani rally in the middle rounds to come away with the close but uncontroversial decision.“Thank you, everyone!” Inoue said through an interpreter after the fight.“I would like to show some appreciation for Junto Nakatani for fighting me tonight. A year ago at the world ceremony, I called out Junto to fight me one day and a year later it happened. I wanted to show you guys that I would be the winner, and I did everything to get the win.”Asked about his future, Inoune said, “I think I need to rest for a little bit.” This was his fifth fight in the last 15 months.Naoya Inoue has now made seven consecutive successful defenses of his four belts (WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF) at super-bantamweight.Inoue beats Nakatani by unanimous decisionNaoya Inoue has retained his undisputed super-bantamweight championship with a 12-round unanimous-decision win over Junto Nakatani before a soldout crowd of about 55,000 spectators at the Tokyo Dome.The official judges’ scores were 116-112 (twice) and 115-113. The Guardian had it at 115-113 to Inoue.The fighters embrace at the final bell. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty ImagesNaoya Inoue (right) celebrates defeating Junto Nakatani in their super bantamweight championship boxing contest. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty ImagesThe internet has gone out at the Tokyo Dome and is preventing us from live round-by-round coverage, but we’re in the 10th round now. Inoue is up. Stay tuned for more updates as we can get them.The fighters eye each other during the fourth round. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty ImagesNaoya Inoue (left) lands a right on Junto Nakatani during the seventh round. Photograph: Hiro Komae/APNaoya Inoue (right) and Junto Nakatani exchange blows. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty ImagesThe waiting is over. The final instructions have been given by the referee, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!And now here comes Inoue. He’s played out by a live band to...
Naoya Inoue beats Junto Nakatani in undisputed superfight
Japan's Naoya Inoue gave another boxing masterclass to beat countryman Junto Nakatani in front of 55,000 fans at Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
Naoya Inoue beats Junto Nakatani to remain undisputed, undefeated
Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed junior featherweight titles with a unanimous win over Japanese rival Junto Nakatani on Saturday.
