Junto Nakatani Unified the Bantamweight Belts
Junto Nakatani stopped Ryosuke Nishida after six rounds in Tokyo on June 8, 2025. The contest at Ariake Coliseum united Nakatani’s WBC bantamweight championship with Nishida’s IBF belt, giving the winner his first unified world championship.
Two unbeaten southpaws brought separate titles
Nakatani entered with thirty professional victories, including twenty-three knockouts. Nishida arrived with ten wins and no defeats, making the matchup a meeting between unbeaten Japanese champions at 118 pounds.
Their similar southpaw stances placed particular importance on positioning and the ability to land the rear hand. Nakatani established that threat repeatedly as the contest developed.
Repeated left hands forced the intervention
Nakatani’s sustained attack caused Nishida’s right eye to close. After the sixth round, the ringside physician inspected the defending IBF champion before the contest was stopped in his corner.
The official outcome was a sixth-round technical knockout. Nishida did not return for a seventh round, bringing the unification contest to an end without a judges’ decision.
The victory completed a new championship step
Nakatani left with thirty-one victories and twenty-four stoppages, while Nishida’s record moved to ten wins and one defeat. The result preserved Nakatani’s unbeaten run while ending his opponent’s.
Holding two belts represented a different achievement from defending a single championship. Nakatani had entered as the WBC titleholder seeking to add Nishida’s IBF crown; the corner stoppage completed that objective after six rounds of increasingly damaging left-hand attacks.
Sources
- Top Rank: date, venue, corner stoppage, titles and post-fight records
- WBC: unbeaten records, southpaw stances and championship background
