The WBO is the second sanctioning body to name Junto Nakatani as its No. 1 contender at junior featherweight even though the rising three-division titleholder has yet to compete at 122lbs.
Earlier this month, the WBA inserted Nakatani at No. 1. The next two sanctioning bodies to release ratings updates in September were the IBF and WBC, whose bantamweight belts Nakatani still held at the time – and only recently officially vacated.
The WBO’s latest ratings update was released September 25 and reflects results as of September 15.
Nakatani, 31-0 (24 KOs), supplanted the WBO’s previous No. 1 junior featherweight, Carl Jammes Martin, 26-0 (20 KOs), who is now situated at No. 2. They are followed by Marlon Tapales, Toshiki Shimomachi, Mukhammad Shekhov, Jerwin Ancajas, Alan David Picasso, Fillipus Nghitumbwa, Subaru Murata, Sebastian Hernandez Reyes, Peter McGrail, Alan Ruben Alejandro Cantero, Zhong Liu, Celex Castro Olivares and Dennis McCann.
Nakatani is scheduled to make his junior featherweight debut on December 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, taking on the 10th-ranked Hernandez Reyes, 20-0 (18 KOs), on the undercard of Naoya Inoue defending his undisputed junior featherweight championship against Picasso, who is rated No. 1 by the WBC.
Wins for Nakatani and Inoue would then set up a huge event in their home country of Japan in 2026.
Nakatani is a 27-year-old who previously held world titles at 112, 115 and 118lbs. Earlier in his career, he scored wins over future titleholders Masamichi Yabuki and Seigo Yuri Akui. In 2020, Nakatani knocked out Giemel Magramo to win a vacant flyweight title, which he then went on to defend twice. Nakatani soon moved up to junior bantamweight and, in 2023, dominated Andrew Moloney and scored a highlight-reel 12th-round knockout to capture another vacant belt.
Again, his reign was brief. After one defense, Nakatani jumped up to bantamweight in February 2024 and seized the WBC title from Alexandro Santiago via sixth-round TKO.
Nakatani made four successful defenses at 118lbs. He dispatched Vincent Astrolabio in one round in July 2024, Tasana “Petch CP Freshmart” Salapat in six rounds in October 2024, unbeaten contender David Cuellar in three rounds last February, and stopped IBF titleholder Ryosuke Nishida after the sixth round of their unification bout in June.
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.
