“They don’t believe in Reyes, but who knows if he will surprise?”, — write: sport.ua
This fight will be a preliminary to the meeting between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. If both win this tournament.
Nakatani was planning a megafight with another boxer. However, he later moved to Inoue’s category
Junto Nakatani is rightly considered one of the main stars in boxing recently and is definitely the second Japanese boxer after Naoya Inoue.
It was expected that he would go after the absolute championship in his division, and then try to get Naoya. However, the plan looked different.
Later, Jesse Rodriguez said that he was in talks to fight Nakatani. There was also a preliminary agreement, and they even thought about the date of the duel.
For this meeting, Jesse should have gone up in weight, but there was nothing critical about it, but we saw a megafight that was crazy.
However, later everything changed. Nakatani decided to move up in weight, and Rodriguez went after another title – knocking out Martinez with a bright left straight, holding a kind of master class for a colleague behind the championship shop.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Junto Nakatani – Sebastian Hernandez This meeting was postponed, but Nakatani’s fight against Inoue was not. Even on the contrary. The announcement of the Night of the Samurai tournament is actually based on the two of them. Everything revolves around their theoretical confrontation. And in the comments, the boxers do not hide that they prefer to continue fighting each other.
But the matter has not yet been resolved, and the agreement has not been concluded. Inoue should protect his status. And Nakatani should make a successful debut in the new division.
Junto will face the undefeated Mexican knockout. Sebastian Hernando Reyes is only 25 years old. He has 18 knockouts in 20 fights and is undefeated to this point. This is 90% of early wins during a professional career!
A debut against a boxer with such numbers deserves respect. Especially when there is a high-profile challenge ahead, which can be lost only because of an unsuccessful episode in battle. However, in boxing, you also need to look at what is behind these numbers.
If you look closely at the record of Hernando Reyes, there is no one who can match Nakatani. And with his opposition, too. Armenian Khorsisyan is a good opponent, but nothing more. The Mexican met him in the previous meeting and won by decision of the judges. It was the second fight in his entire career that did not end in a knockout.
Most of Reyes’ fights took place in Mexico. Counted in the USA. None – in Arabia, where the meeting with Nakatani will take place. However, it cannot be said that Junto has an advantage here – he has also never fought in Saudi Arabia.
I would like to single out someone among Sebastian’s rivals. To say that this person is a marker that he is ready for such confrontations. But it doesn’t work.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Sebastian Hernandez He has many strong rivals. Fights in Mexico are never too easy, because a huge percentage of the population likes to watch boxing and fight. And the competition there is perhaps the strongest in the world. To achieve such a record in such an environment is a sign of a good level.
However, there is a difference between a good level and rivals who can claim the championship. In Nakatan, there are enough of them among the defeated. Unlike the opponent.
This year alone, Junto defeated Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar. The first is a former kickboxer and just a strong boxer. He was going undefeated, but all Nakatani did was make him surrender.
Cuellar is also Mexican, as is Junto’s future opponent. Fairly large, with a good punch, young. And also invincible at the time of the meeting.
The Japanese won in the ring with him in three rounds.
This does not mean that Nakatani’s next opponent has no chance. Junto is not some killing machine or an unbeatable boxer.
He makes mistakes, he misses, and some opponents really put up a decent resistance until they conceded early.
We are simply talking about objective factors that can be evaluated. And all of them are in favor of Junto.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Junto Nakatani Who is the favorite?
Nakatani has a crazy margin on bookmaker quotes. You can bet on him with a coefficient of 1.06, and on the opponent – with a coefficient of 9.40.
There is enough logic in this. At least because of the names. If not for Nakatani, would we know about this Mexican? One of many that has nobody on the record but good numbers. Junto made him, if not a star, a boxer who will be said to have rivaled Nakatani.
Now the main thing is to prove yourself in this duel. To show the maximum that he has now. Nakatani can miss a shot – he has shown it more than once. And who knows if this will not be the final for the Japanese.
And that’s not the main thing. Hits on Inoue, which sent him into knockdowns, were remembered by fans for a long time. Everyone remembers who put the Japanese on the fifth spot. The same will happen if Nakatani is knocked down. Especially before a potential meeting against Naoya.
Of course, the Mexican wants to win and goes to the ring not just for a check. A young, undefeated knockout artist does not want to do the trick. He needs a win. And it’s cool for neutral fans. However, any of his success with such an assessment of the chances will immediately give a chance to earn more in the future.
However, Junto is not always willing to reveal himself. That is why it is interesting how much the Mexican will be able to disperse in the ring against the Japanese until he reads him. Or if he reads at all.