Boxing Challenge: Nakatani, Inoue score KO's

    Two bantamweight titles were at stake Saturday in Tokyo and when the evening was over, one title was retained and the other had a new owner with the stage possibly set for a Japanese superfight in the division shortly.

Junto Nakatani made his first fight at 118 pounds a winning one as Nakatani won the WBC title with a sixth-round knockout of Alejandro Santiago.

Santiago had upset Nonito Donaire to win the then-vacant title last year and was regarded as one of the most vulnerable champions in the sport.

Nakatani won the race to fight Santiago first and dominated the champion, winning every round, despite a game effort.

Nakatani dropped Santiago twice in the sixth round to close the show with Santiago being saved by the referee after the second knockdown.

A Nakatani-Takuma Inoue unification fight for the WBA and WBC titles would be a massive event in Japan and I would make Nakatani a prohibitive favorite in such a bout.

Inoue retained his WBA title in the final fight of the card with a vicious body shot in the ninth round that crumbled former IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas.

The shot from the previously light punching Inoue ended a fight that I scored even at the end of eight and was held mostly at close range with effective infighting from both men.

An Inoue-Nakatani unification match might depend on whether or not Inoue's camp wants to take the chance of losing to another fighter before cashing in on a lucrative Nakatani bout.

Inoue doesn't seem to be of the level of Nakatani, so the more prudent decision may be to try Nakatani now while the money is highest and maybe before Nakatani settles in at the weight.

In the other title fight on the slate, Kosei Tanaka outgunned the gritty Christina Bacasegua by a unanimous decision to win the WBO junior bantamweight title that Junto Nakatani vacated earlier this year.

Bacasegua won some early rounds but after suffering a slice from a clash of heads, the technical skills of Tanaka took over and controlled the second half of the fight, including a knockdown when Bacasegua's glove touched the mat in round eight.

Tanaka won 117-110 on my card, which was the same as one card with the others giving Tanaka edges of 116-111 and 119-108.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 25 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 24 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 14 pts (2)