Three-division world champion Junto Nakatani has yet to throw a punch at 122 pounds, but the WBA has already installed him as its No. 1 junior featherweight contender in its September rankings update.
Nakatani moves into the top spot after vacating his bantamweight belts, where he last unified the IBF and WBC titles with a sixth-round TKO of Ryosuke Nishida in June. The 27-year-old has previously captured championships at flyweight, junior bantamweight, and bantamweight, building one of the most accomplished resumes in Japanese boxing today.
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The shift bumped Ramon Cardenas down to No. 2. Cardenas had impressed in May when he briefly troubled undisputed champion Naoya Inoue before falling by eighth-round stoppage. Several other contenders were similarly moved down to accommodate Nakatani’s arrival.
A move to junior featherweight has long been on Nakatani’s radar, with a potential showdown against Inoue viewed as one of the biggest fights that could be made in Japan. While his debut opponent at 122 lbs has not yet been confirmed, Nakatani’s ranking fast-tracks him toward the very top of the division.
First, though, the division will focus on Inoue’s September 14 defense against interim WBA champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Should Inoue prevail, momentum will only grow for a high-stakes all-Japanese clash with Nakatani in the near future.
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