📰
Sports

Robert Garcia Picks Inoue but Warns Nakatani's Power Is 'Different'

20 Apr 2026 2 min readBy Sports News Global Desk (AI-assisted)

Hall of Fame trainer Robert Garcia has warned that Junto Nakatani's power is a level above the fighters who have previously dropped Naoya Inoue, though the veteran still backs 'The Monster' to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight crown at Tokyo Dome on May 2.

Key Takeaways

  • 1.I still pick Inoue, yes, but it is going to be a really good fight." Inoue has been knocked down twice in his past six bouts - first by Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome in 2024, then by Ramon Cardenas during last year's title defence - before recovering in each case to win inside the distance.
  • 2.Hall of Fame trainer Robert Garcia has flagged Junto Nakatani's power as the key unknown heading into his undisputed super-bantamweight challenge to Naoya Inoue on May 2 at Tokyo Dome - though the veteran coach still picks Inoue to keep his belts in the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
  • 3.His style is one of those tough, strong fighters that has tremendous power," Garcia said.

Hall of Fame trainer Robert Garcia has flagged Junto Nakatani's power as the key unknown heading into his undisputed super-bantamweight challenge to Naoya Inoue on May 2 at Tokyo Dome - though the veteran coach still picks Inoue to keep his belts in the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.

Inoue is one of only three fighters to hold multiple undisputed world titles in the four-belt era, alongside Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk, and he needed just two fights at 122lbs - against Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales - to unify the division before defending his belts six times. Nakatani, meanwhile, vacated his unified bantamweight titles to move up in December, where he underwhelmed in a narrow win over Mexico's Sebastian Hernandez Reyes.

Speaking on The Spit Bucket podcast, Garcia did not write Nakatani off.

"He has a challenge against Nakatani. People might be counting him out but Nakatani is a very dangerous fighter. His style is one of those tough, strong fighters that has tremendous power," Garcia said.

"I think Nakatani is going to put up a great fight, he has got great power and Inoue has been dropped a couple of times. I don't think that the fighters that Inoue has been dropped by are as good or have as much power as Nakatani has.

"He [Nakatani] is a solid guy, man, and he is going to put up a good fight. I still pick Inoue, yes, but it is going to be a really good fight."

Inoue has been knocked down twice in his past six bouts - first by Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome in 2024, then by Ramon Cardenas during last year's title defence - before recovering in each case to win inside the distance. Nakatani, a 3-1 betting underdog despite bringing a 32-0 record and 24 knockouts with him from bantamweight, represents a puncher of a different calibre.

Garcia's warning also lands at a moment when pound-for-pound rankings are in flux following Crawford's retirement earlier this year, a shift that has moved Inoue to second in several P4P lists. A loss to a compatriot - or even a hard-fought retention against a dangerous Nakatani - could reshape the pecking order again before the summer.