Junto Nakatani showed his destructive power as Ryosuke Nishida was stopped having suffered a bad eye injury.

Nakatani was looking to unify the bantamweight division against fellow Japanese fighter Nishida who held the IBF title.

3

Nakatani left Nishida with an eye which barely openedCredit: Top Rank
The WBC champion was once again the favourite to pick up the unified crown, and extend his professional record to 31-0.

And as the first bell rang it became clear it would be far from one-way traffic.

Nishida was seriously resilient and dug in trading blow-for-blow with Nakatani, who was perhaps surprised by his fellow countryman’s aggressive performance.

But swelling began appearing above the eye of Nishida who was taking some big blows, including a series of thudding consecutive uppercuts.

As the rounds went on, Nishida’s eye began to completely closed with the relentless pound-for-pound star targeting the injury.

And the doctor eventually stepped in to take a look with five rounds gone to see the eye was starting to completely closed.

Nishida was given the opportunity to continue but was on borrowed time with his vision completely restricted.

And as he trudged back to his corner at the end of the seventh, the referee called off the contest on doctor’s advice.

He refused to quit but his eye was unfortunate badly closed, and it was deemed impossible for the underdog to fight on.

It was tougher than expected and Nishida received a warm reception after his brave display.

3

Nishida was stopped by the doctor with his eye in a bad wayCredit: Top Rank
Unfortunately he received treatment from his corner and trudged away out of the ring after a warm greeting from Nakatani.

He also held his shoulder limp, and it appeared he had also injured that during the brutal and punishing clash.

Nakatani showed once again why he is a seriously formidable force to be reckoned with in the sport worldwide.

His devastating stoppage streak continued, and he has taken a positive step towards a clash with fellow great Naoya Inoue.

Undisputed super-bantamweight king Inoue sat ringside and watched on as the statement victory unfolded.

And it is likely a mega showdown between the pair will be made by their respective teams in 2026.

3

Inoue reacted ringside as his rival made a big statementCredit: Top Rank
Inoue suggested previously that the bout could land in May 2026.

And Top Rank promoter Bob Arum believes it could be a bigger fight than Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.

He said: “A lot of people say Nakatani is the guy that could beat Inoue. That’s why it’s such a big fight. That’s a real, real fight.

“People who really know and follow those lower weight divisions, they think that’s as interesting a fight, if not more so, than Canelo and Crawford.

“And it’ll be the biggest fight ever in the history of Japan.”