Undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue cut a relaxed figure at his Ohashi Gym in Yokohama on Monday as the 33-year-old opened training to the media ahead of his blockbuster May 2 bout against fellow Japanese world champion Junto Nakatani at Tokyo Dome.
"The Monster", whose 27-match winning streak in world title bouts is a record in its own right, will face Nakatani, 28, who brings an identical 32-0 record and the reputation of being one of the sport's pound-for-pound elite. Inoue holds a knockout tally of 27 to Nakatani's 24 and is an 8-centimetre shorter man at 165 centimetres to Nakatani's 173.
"I'm in a really good state, both mentally and physically," Inoue said following a round each of shadow boxing, pad work and bag work. "I already have the fixed image of how to conquer him and I'm looking forward to it."
The four-division champion did not hide his combinations from watching media, running through body shots from low angles that look tailor-made for an opponent with Nakatani's reach. Nakatani's gym president was among the observers.
"I'm in the final stage with my counterplan," Inoue added. "I'm ready to deal with however he starts the bout and whatever fighting style he comes up with."
The bout will be Inoue's first Tokyo Dome outing since his sixth-round TKO of Mexico's Luis Nery in 2024 and has been dubbed by Ohashi Gym president Hideyuki Ohashi "the biggest in Japanese boxing history". Tickets for the 55,000-capacity venue sold out in advance.
Inoue, who enters his ninth bout in the division and Nakatani's second, struck a characteristically level tone on the stakes.
"I have very strong feelings not to lose, but it's just a passing point in my career," he said. "I want to clear the hurdle with a wonderful performance."
Inoue has been dropped in two of his past six bouts - by Nery and by Ramon Cardenas - a detail that has fed part of the pre-fight narrative as Nakatani, carrying real power of his own, prepares to hand Inoue arguably the toughest test of his professional career.