Junto Nakatani Headlines Bantamweight Bonanza

Top Rank have announced via a press release that on February 24, 2025, Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) will defend his WBC crown against unbeaten Mexican fighter David Cuellar (28-0, 18 KOs). This Junto Nakatani next fight will headline an intriguing tripleheader card at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. All three fights are in the bantamweight division with two of them world title fights. The event will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ as part of a special early-morning presentation.

Junto Nakatani Next Fight Headlines Bantamweight Tripleheader

Junto Nakatani Next Fight: Tsutsumi, and Tenshin to Star at Ariake Arena

The main event will see the WBC bantamweight champ defend his title against the Mexican fighter David Cuellar. The feared Japanese star will enter 2025 off the back of a brilliant 2024, which saw him score three KO wins, including a dominant sixth-round TKO win over Tasana Salapat last time out.

Read More: Junto Nakatani Dominates in Tokyo Against Vincent Astrolabio

WBA champion Seiya Tsutsumi will make the first defence of his title against former flyweight champion Daigo Higa in what should be an all-action world title fight. The bantamweight bonanza is completed by an intriguing 10-round contest between kickboxing legend Tenshin Nasukawa and Australian former world champion Jason Moloney.

Nakatani vs. Naoya Inoue

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has recently spoken about a potential Nakatani-Naoya Inoue super fight: “It is rare and from what I’ve been told by (Hideyuki) Ohashi, the manager, promoter of Inoue and (Akihiko) Honda, our friend Honda who is the co-promoter with us of Nakantani. Inoue-Nakatani will be by far the biggest fight in the history of Japan and they would put it in the Tokyo Dome which is in itself fairly rare,” said Arum.

Read More: Naoya Inoue vs. Sam Goodman December 24 Date Rocked by Cut

He added: “Exactly. Whenever we can get the Tokyo Dome, that’s the key, because it’s not only with the Baseball team that plays there, the Tokyo Giants. They also do entertainment, it’s always booked up. Brad Jacobs (COO of Top Rank) has met with the head guy at the Tokyo Dome and they‘re aiming for a date in the summer or fall of next year to do that fight.”

The bantamweight bonanza looks set to provide plenty of fireworks, and a Nakatani win will seemingly move us one step closer to Inoue-Nakatani, if “Monster” comes through his Jan. 24 clash against Australian Sam Goodman.