Nakatani KOs Astrolabio in 1st round, eyes fights vs. Inoue brothers
Retains WBC bantamweight title; wants to unify with Takuma, then move up to challenge Naoya; Nasukawa stops Rodriguez in 3rd round; Olascuaga KOs Kano in 3rd to win vacant WBO flyweight title
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It was easy work for Junto Nakatani, who retained the WBC bantamweight title with a one-punch body-shot knockout of mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio in the first round before a sold-out crowd of about 8,000 on Saturday at Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena in Tokyo.
Afterward Nakatani talked about his interest in unifying with WBA titlist Takuma Inoue and eventually moving up to junior featherweight to challenge undisputed champion Naoya Inoue, Takuma’s much more famous brother, in an all-Japanese mega fight.
Nakatani, a three-division titleholder, who has also won belts at junior bantamweight and flyweight, moved up to bantamweight in February and easily dominated Nonito Donaire-conqueror Alexandro Santiago in a sixth-round knockout to win the WBC 118-pound title.
Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs), 26, a southpaw, made his first defense against Astrolabio in even more one-sided fashion in the main event of a Teiken Promotions card that streamed on ESPN+ in the United States.
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