WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani is facing the huge Puncher Vincent Astrolabio this Saturday, July 20th, in a fight that is expected to end with a knockout at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Nakatani vs. Astrolabio event will be shown live on ESPN+. Astrolabio possesses the power to score a one-punch knockout of Nakatani if he can land cleanly one of his shots.
(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda)
Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs) is seen as a star on the rise with his recent knockouts of Alexandro Santiago and Andrew Moloney. However, he’s not faced a Puncher like Astrolabio (19-4, 14 KOs) during his nine-year professional career, and it’s going to be interesting to see how Nakatani holds up under the firepower.
The closest Nakatani has come to facing someone as powerful as Astrolabi was when he fought Francisco Rodríguez Jr. in November 2022, a 10-round war. Nakatani took a lot of heavy shots but couldn’t budge Rodriguez Jr. with his power.
WBC bantamweight world champion, three-division king, and rising pound-for-pound superstar Junto Nakatani will defend his belt against Filipino contender Vincent Astrolabio this Saturday, July 20, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Nakatani captured his third division world title last February, knocking out Alexandro Santiago in the sixth round to win the WBC bantamweight belt in Tokyo. A year ago, Nakatani knocked out Andrew Moloney in the 12th round to win the vacant WBC super flyweight belt.
The boxing public had hoped that Nakatabi would stay at 115 to fight Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, but the interest wasn’t there from his side to face him. So, Nakatani moved on and captured the WBC 118-lb belt.
Astrolabio fought for the vacant WBO bantamweight title against Jason Moloney last year in May but came up short, losing a twelve-round majority decision in Stockton, California. In Astrolabio’s last fight, he bounced back with an 11th-round knockout win over Nawaphon Kaikanha in August 2023 in Thailand.
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