Junto Nakatani is a bad, bad man.

In his third fight at 118 pounds, the WBC bantamweight titleholder proved too robust, too powerful and just too shrewd for Thai veteran Tasana Salapat (aka Petch CP Freshmart) in an all-southpaw fight at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan Monday night.

Salapat, a veteran of 77 fights with only one loss to his name, has never been stopped before. That changed tonight when he was stopped in six rounds by Nakatani, who is currently ranked No. 9 pound-for-pound in The Ring.

In his first fight abroad, the 30-year-old Salapat knew he was in for a fight from the opening bell when Nakatani’s sweeping left cross buckled his legs for the opening goal.

Like most Thais, Salapat was tough and determined. He pushed for action and tried to involve Nakatani in the shooting. But the slender, six-foot-two Japanese boxer kept him at bay, encouraging him to come forward so he could lead him into counterattacks.

Nakatani’s counter left hand in the second round gave Salapat a taste of what was to come.

Nakatani dictated the pace from distance, picking up the pace round after round as the Thai reached out to deliver the killing blow.

Sensing he was falling behind, Salapat increased his workload in the fourth quarter. This was fine in theory, but it only gave Nakatani the opportunity to launch robust counterattacks of his own. The title holder remained composed and sparing under the incoming fire, making attacks on his opponent as he saw fit.

Things opened up in the fifth quarter when both boxers made an exchange in the middle. Salapat was the busier of the two, but the heavier blows came from the Rudy Hernandez-trained Nakatani, who showed great defense by rolling under the incoming fire and hitting challenging shots of his own.

In the sixth, Salapat started scoring. Nakatani did not give up and weathered the storm. A volley of two fists from the champion drove the challenger to the canvas. Salapat defeated the count, but it was only a matter of time.

A crunching left cross to the jaw pinned Thailand to the canvas just before the bell. Referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight with one second before the end of the round.

It was another dominant win for Nakatani, who once again proved why he is ranked No. 1 in the bantamweight division according to The Ring.

With the victory, Nakatani improved his record to 29-0 after 22 knockouts. Salapat drops to 76-2 after 53 knockouts.

In the semi-main event, former kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa continued his undefeated streak under the Queensberry Rules.

Nasukawa, 26, had no trouble beating 23-year-old Filipino Gerwin Asilo in his 10-round bantamweight fight. The Japanese southpaw suffered a minor cut near his left eyebrow, but otherwise cruised to victory, winning 97-92, 98-91 and 98-91.

The ever-popular Nasukawa improves his record to 5-0 after two knockouts, while Asilo sees the first blemish on his resume, dropping to 9-1 after four knockouts.

PHUMELELE CAFU stunned four-weight world king Kosei Tanaka to become the fresh WBO super flyweight champion in Tokyo.

Cafu dropped Tanaka tough in the fifth, and at that point the victory was finally secured by the slimmest of margins, with the three judges returning a split decision.

Jesse Reyes led 114-113 against Tanaka, but when both Phil Austin and Waleska Roldan scored Cafu 114-113, a fresh world champion was crowned.

The victory came just days after Cafu’s compatriot Sivenathi Nontshinga lost his world title in Japan, but the Duncan Village fighter was not to be denied a performance at the Ariake Arena.

Cafu said, “I am speechless. This is everything I’ve ever wanted, my whole life, my whole career. Now I finally have it. Thank you to the Japanese fans for welcoming me.”

Tanaka made a keen start against the counter-paced Cafu, slipping in and out of range to score, leaving his opponent chasing shadows early on.

However, the challenger started to make some progress in the second and broke through with a mighty right hand just before the bell to end the round. Tanaka took it well.

This set the tone for an entertaining third installment, with both men having periods of success. Tanaka landed a double left hook jab to the body, but Cafu shot back. There was more high-level action in the fourth quarter and it was Tanaka who enjoyed it the most, but Cafu did great on the counterattack.

And that’s what happened midway through the fifth period, when Tanaka tried to land an uppercut and Cafu landed a tough right hook that knocked the champion down. He landed on his hands and knees, but managed to pull himself up in time to defeat the count. His legs were unsteady, but Cafu was unable to finish in the last 80 seconds of the round.

He improved even more in the sixth round, which was overall a good round for Tanaka, and continued his good form in the seventh round, which was like throwing practice for a champion who was investing heavily in Cafu’s body.

Despite this, Cafu still looked like a striker in the fight and seemed to hurt Tanaka every time he landed his signature counters. it seemed like everything was up for grabs in the championship rounds, but there wasn’t much to choose between the pair as they were both visibly tired by this point. However, Tanaka gained pressure in the final round and was still hesitant when the final bell rang.

However, it wasn’t enough for Tanaka to defend the belt in his first defense, and Cafu was close to making his next decision.

Previously, Anthony Olascuaga did not even make it past the first round in his fight against Gonzalez, three months after lifting weights against Tanaka, due to an unintentional headbutt from the former, which resulted in a no-contest.

The Orthodox champion, who was defending his WBO flyweight title for the first time, accidentally landed his head above Gonzalez’s left eye. And when Robert Hoyle asked if he could see, Gonzalez replied “no,” leaving the referee no choice but to immediately wave his hand. The stoppage time was 2:25 of the first.

John Riel Casimero had it much easier in the ring than on the scales.

The former three-division champion salvaged a near-disastrous weekend with a first-round knockout of Saul Sanchez. Casimero scored two knockdowns before forcing a finish at 2:41 in Saturday’s opening round at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan.

Sedate concerns were expressed about how the main event would proceed after Casimero made the scales twice. At the official weigh-in ceremony on Saturday, Casimero initially weighed more than two pounds more than his contracted limit of 122 pounds. Only after one last attempt did he manage to get down to 123 ¼ pounds.

Sanchez’s team conditionally agreed to continue the fight. Casimero had to attend two further weigh-ins on the day of the fight – once in the morning and again after arriving at the fight venue. Each time, the visiting Filipino confirmed that the entire show went according to plan.

From there there was one-way traffic.

Casimero injured Sanchez with the first punch he landed in the fight. Sanchez was in trouble and was forced to touch the canvas with his gloves within the first 20 seconds of the fight. Referee Yuji Fukuchi rightly ruled this sequence a knockdown and ordered a mandatory count of eight.

Sanchez unsuccessfully tried to counterattack and landed a left hook midway through the round. This only enraged Casimero, who came roaring back. He missed with a left hook, but managed to counterattack to the right. Casimero made Sanchez pay with another left hook and knocked the California native onto his back.

By some miracle, Sanchez recovered in time and defeated the count. Casimero was adamant about shutting down the program. Every punch was delivered with the intention of knocking out. The last right hand caused Sanchez to stagger and the referee intervened.

Casimero (34-4-1, 23 knockouts) is currently undefeated in his last 15 starts. However, the run also includes a draw in his previous fight and missing his WBO 118-pound weight in England after failing to follow weight management rules during fight week.

Sanchez (21-4, 12 KO) is currently 3-3 in his last six fights and is 1-2 on the year. He opened 2024 with a majority fight-of-the-year loss to then-WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney. Sanchez bounced back with an eight-round decision over Arthur Villanueva in July, also at bantamweight. His weight gain took a disastrous turn.

Casimero already held major titles at junior flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight.

At junior featherweight, he will need to show more commitment before he can prove he can fight for the crown. Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KO) is the champion of The Ring and holds all four major titles at the weight. The two were supposed to meet in April 2020 in a fight to unify the three bantamweight belts, but the pandemic thwarted these plans.

There is loose talk of the fight returning to the schedule in 2025 if Inoue stays at 122 pounds.

The massive question surrounding Casimero is whether any promoter is willing to take a chance on the troubled 35-year-old. Former 130-pound champion Masayuki Ito brought Casimero on board with his TB Promotions team, but he was discouraged by the events leading up to this weekend’s fight. Inoue’s team has previously expressed interest in revisiting the fight, but they also demand the utmost professionalism during its events.

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