Junto Nakatani Wants to Face Elite Foes Like Juan Francisco Estrada
With each outing, two-division world champion Junto Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs) has shown himself to be a force in boxing’s lower-weight divisions. But he wants more and is on a quest to gain recognition as one of the elite fighters in the world, regardless of weight, and has a keen interest in facing Juan Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs).
Nakatani made headlines with his most recent outing – a twelfth-round knockout over Andrew Moloney to win the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title on May 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 25-year-old southpaw ended matters with a perfectly-timed straight left hand that landed square on the face of Moloney. The video of the finishing shot was trending all over social media.
Fresh off his impressive victory, Nakatani is now back in his home of Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, where he received a certificate to honor his victory over Moloney.
BRING ON EL GALLO
After the festivities, the Japanese fighter talked to fans and the local press. When asked who is at the top of the list of future opponents, Nakatani is down to face the best of the best at 115 but had one particular person in mind.
(Translated From Japanese) “I would like to fight any champion, but I would like to fight the highly-rated Estrada.”
It’s understandable why Nakatani wants to get him in the ring. A two-time unified champion at 112 and 115, Estrada has been among the best in boxing for the past decade.
El Gallo has been out of action since a majority decision win in a trilogy with future Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in December 2022. At age 33, Estrada is looking for high-profile, big-money matchups.
Nakatani is on a similar quest for a big fight. A goal of his is to be on the pound for pound list. To do that, he must fight and defeat fighters such as Estrada. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of countryman Naoya Inoue, Nakatani wants to progress from one of boxing’s best-kept secrets to a mainstream and international attraction.
