Junto Nakatani retained his WBC bantamweight title with a sixth-round TKO victory over Petch Sor Chitpattana on Monday in Tokyo.
The first three rounds of the battle of southpaws were tactical before the challenger opened up in Round 4. With Thailand's Chitpattana now applying pressure, the fighters engaged in nonstop exchanges on the inside, and it was Nakatani who gained the edge.
He floored Chitpattana (76-2, 53 KOs) twice in Round 6 with a barrage of punches punctuated by his powerful left hand, with the second knockdown prompting the referee to stop the fight without a count with one second left.
Despite 77 previous pro bouts, this was Chitpattana's first world title fight. And throughout all that ring action, the 30-year-old had never been knocked down. Until he faced Nakatani, of course.
"Not my first time knocking out that kind of strong opponent," Japan's Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) said in translated remarks. "Who's next? Anyone who has a championship belt, I'm ready to fight you."
Japanese star Naoya Inoue's idea: for Nakatani to first face his brother, Takuma, before landing a shot at him. Only Takuma Inoue dropped his bantamweight title Sunday in Tokyo in a decision loss to Seiya Tsutsumi. (Takuma was the only previous boxer to defeat Chitpattana, too.)
Still, there are plans for Nakatani to challenge Naoya Inoue (ESPN's No. 2 pound for pound) for the undisputed junior featherweight championship next summer at the Tokyo Dome. And if that fight comes to fruition, it will land Nakatani an opportunity to achieve his dream.
"I have a big goal to be pound-for-pound No. 1 in boxing, so I'll keep on fighting and keep on delivering exciting fights," said Nakatani, 26. "This is my third knockout victory in a title fight; I hope people are happy about it."
Nakatani, ESPN's No. 1 boxer at 118 pounds, was coming off a first-round KO victory of Vincent Astrolabio in July. Nakatani's next bout could be a title unification; all four bantamweight champions are Japanese.