Junito Nakatani: "I've been watching the footage of the Inoue fight more thoroughly than ever before. I've watched it nearly 10 times. It really reveals a ton of areas for improvement, so that's why I've been revisiting it so much. That 8th round where we both ended up laughing at each other? I was thinking, 'Man, I'm not landing a thing' (laugh). Before the fight, I'd studied him inside and out, built up my game plan, and stepped into the ring ready for it—but still, there were so many moments where my punches just whistled through empty air. In the heat of the moment, I'd react and actually enjoy those 'not landing' instants. It was such a rare experience, so I had a blast with it."
Two names to look out for in the next Olympics and also for the future in the pros. I’ve been following both of their journeys separately and when I saw they got matched up at the World Boxing Cup China, I knew it’d be a banger fight.
Lots of great Uzbekistan vs USA matchups coming out of these tournaments (Joseph Awinongya vs Turabek Khabibullaev at the last tournament being another) and massive amounts of talent that could be future stars in the pros.