Junto Nakatani Dominates Tasana Salapat to Retain Bantamweight World Title

Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) kept his WBC bantamweight title with a technical knockout win against Tasana Salapat (76-2, 53 KOs).

The time of stoppage was 2:59 of round six. With the victory, he makes the second defence of his title. Nakatani won the belt earlier this year with a sixth round technical knockout over Alexandro Santiago.

The fight headlined a Teiken Promotions card at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Boxing fans in Japan could catch the action live on Prime Video. Those in the United States could do so with ESPN+. Sky Sports+ were broadcasters for those in the United Kingdom. In Canada, TSN+ had the action.

Note: Tasana Salapat is also known as Petch Sor Chitpattana and has been referred to by that name for this event. Big Fight Weekend is using his birth name listed on BoxRec.

Junto Nakatani Dominates Tasana Salapat

Fight Recap

The opening round was a fairly cautious one with neither fighter committing much offensively. Nakatani’s power was evident early on, however, as the shots he was landing elicited reactions from the otherwise quiet crowd. Salapat was the one coming forward, but struggled to land.

Both men began unleashing more punches from round five onwards. Nakatani’s defence allowed him to avoid many of the shots coming his way. With Salapat pressing forward, it made him more susceptible to the reigning champion’s power.

In round six, Nakatani scored a knockdown with a barrage of punches. Salapat got up but was very clearly on shaky legs. Shortly before the round could end, Nakatani landed two massive left hands. Salapat went down for a second time and referee Laurence Cole then waved off the contest, giving Nakatani the technical knockout win.

The first @BoxerJunto knockdown that set up the finish 🥶 pic.twitter.com/M1DJVFNdlL

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 14, 2024

THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE.@BOXERJUNTO DOES IT AGAIN 👑🔥 pic.twitter.com/dNufAsUTat

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 14, 2024

Post-fight Interview

Junto Nakatani

“This is my third knockout victory [at bantamweight] of the title shot,” said Nakatani through an interpreter. “I hope people are happy about it.”

“At the beginning, I knew my opponent is quite aggressive coming into the fight. So, I slowed down and chilled out and watched him come into me.”

“I think key to the victory was what my coach told me during the fight…Just calm yourself and look at your opponent carefully so that I could be able to watch him carefully at the beginning and I can go straight into punching him later.”

On the Undercard

Tenshin Nasukawa (5-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Gerwin Asilo (9-1, 4 KOs). Scores for the 10-round bantamweight clash were 98-91 (x2) and 97-92. Nasukawa did score a knockdown in round nine, though it was clear that Asilo slipped due to their feet getting tangled upon replay inspection.

Check out our recap of other title fights on this card, including a split decision win for Phumelele Cafu against Kosei Tanaka.