RYOSUKE NISHIDA was pulled out of his title fight against Junto Nakatani after suffering a grotesquely swollen eye.
Nishida put his IBF bantamweight title on the line against WBA champion Nakatani in Tokyo.
Ryosuke Nishida was pulled out of his title fight against Junto Nakatani[/caption]
Nishida’s eye was closed shut[/caption]
But after just six rounds, the thudding left hands and uppercuts from Nakatani proved too much for Nishida.
Halfway through the bout, Nishida’s eye was swollen shut to leave the doctor with no choice but to pull him out.
Three-weight champ Nakatani said: “Ever since I was at flyweight, I wanted to unify the titles.
“Finally at bantamweight, I received my first opportunity and I am very happy with the result.”
Japan’s unified super-bantamweight king Naoya Inoue was ringside to watch Nakatani’s dominance.
And a blockbuster between the country’s two biggest stars is now being touted.
Nakatani said: “I am coming, so please stick around for me.”
Inoue’s promoter Bob Arum previously stated the fight – eyed for May 2026 – could be as big as Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
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Arum said: “A lot of people say Nakatani is the guy that could beat Inoue. That’s why it’s such a big fight. That’s a real, real fight.
“People who really know and follow those lower weight divisions, they think that’s as interesting a fight, if not more so, than Canelo and Crawford.
“And it’ll be the biggest fight ever in the history of Japan.”
Nakatani with his IBF and WBC belts[/caption]
Naoya Inoue watched the fight from ringside[/caption]
