Nakatani Looking To Make Cortes A Successful Title Defense
Junto Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs) will make the first defense of the WBO junior bantamweight title on September 18 against Argi Cortes (25-3-2,10 KOs) at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The bout will be on the undercard of Kenshiro Teraji’s defense of the unified junior flyweight titles against WBC 108-pound challenger Hekkie Budler.
NOTHING BUT IMPRESSIVE
Nakatani has been stomping through the competition up to this point in his career. The hard-hitting southpaw from Kanagawa, Japan won the WBO flyweight title in November 2021 with an eighth-round stoppage over Giemel Magramo. After two successful title defenses, Nakatani vacated the flyweight belt to move up 115lbs in November 2022.
In May 2023, Nakatani won the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title with a twelfth-round stoppage over former Andrew Moloney. Fighting on the undercard Devin Haney vs Vasyl Lomachenko, Nakatani had the highlight of the evening as he laid Molony out with a brutal, picture-perfect left hand.
Now the defending champion faces Cortes, ranked eighth by the WBC and ninth by WBA and WBO at junior bantamweight. After losing two of his first four fights, the 28-year-old from Mexico City, Mexico has proven to be a solid and competent fighter. Many followers of the lower-weight divisions remember Cortes for his valiant effort in a unanimous decision loss to two-division world champion Juan Francisco Estrada in September 2022.
At age 25, Nakatani looks like an emerging force with the potential to be one of the elite fighters in the sport. He’s looking to keep the ball rolling in a voluntary world title defense. The challenger hopes to seize the moment in his first world title opportunity.
