Nakatani Edges Hernandez In Tune-up Fight

By Joe Koizumi
Photos By Naoki Fukuda (To Come Soon)

Formerly three-division champ, unbeaten Japanese southpaw Junto Nakatani (32-0, 24KOs), 121.6, had a very tough time coping with unbeaten Mexican trial horse Sebastian Hernandez (20-1, 18 KOs), 120.8, and eked out a debatable unanimous decision (115-113 twice, 118-110) over twelve furious rounds on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This was supposed to be a tune-up bout for Nakatani prior to his greatly expected showdown with undisputed world super bantam champ Naoya Inoue.