Junto Nakatani vs Tasana Salapat Preview October 14th, 2024
Unbeaten WBC Bantamweight champion and former WBO Flyweight and Super Flyweight Champion Junto Nakatani of Japan defends his belt for the second time when he takes on Tasana Salapat of Thailand this Monday, October 14th. The 12-rounder from Tokyo can be seen live in America on ESPN+ with the card getting underway at about 5 am ET and fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports + at 9 am. Nakatani won the bantamweight title by stopping Alexandro Santiago in the sixth round in February to win a world title in a third weight division and then defended it against Vincent Astrolabio in July when he stopped him in 157 seconds. Salapat, who’s also known as Petch CP Freshmart, last saw action in July when he beat GuiMing Li via a 10-round unanimous decision to defend his WBC Asian Bantamweight Belt. Salapat is also known as Petch Sor Chitpattana
Nakatani vs Salapat Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Tasana Salapat +1600
- Junto Nakatani -5000
My Pick
The 26-year-old Nakatani is a southpaw who already boasts a perfect record of 28-0 with 21 Ko’s and measures 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 68.5-inch reach. He’s boxed 137 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 and won the vacant Japanese Flyweight title in 2019 when he stopped Naoki Mochizuki in the ninth round. The champion has displayed plenty of power up until now with a current knockout ratio of 75 per cent and has stopped nine of his last 11 opponents.
He halted former world champion Milan Melindo of the Philippines in the sixth round in October, 2019 and then won the the vacant WBO Flyweight Title in November, 2020 with an eighth-round stoppage over Giemel Magramo. He stopped Angel Acosta in the fourth round in his first defence and then halted Ryota Yamauchi in eight rounds before moving up in weight against Francisco Rodriguez in November, 2022 and taking a 10-round unanimous decision.
Nakatani then stopped Andrew Moloney in May, 2023 for the vacant WBO Super Flyweight Title with what most experts considered to be the knockout of the year. As a pro, Nakatani is already considered to be one of the most successful Japanese boxers in history with world title belts in three weight divisions and combines speed, ring intelligence and power.
As for the 30-year-old Salapat, he’s also a southpaw and has fought 407 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011 as a teenager. He carries around a remarkable record of 76-1 with 53 Ko’s and also has good power in his fists as 69.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has stopped only three of his last nine opponents. He stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 68.5-inch wingspan which means he gives up 1.5 inches in height to Nakatani. The lone loss on Salapat’s record came to Takuma Inoue in Tokyo, by way of 12-round unanimous decision in 2018 in a shot at the WBC Interim Bantamweight Title.
Of course, Inoue, the brother of Naoya Inoue, is currently the WBA Bantamweight Champion. Salapat won the vacant WBC Youth Flyweight Title in 2011 and captured the vacant WBC Youth Silver Flyweight Belt the next year. He added the vacant WBC Youth Silver Bantamweight Crown in 2013 and defended it 14 times. He won the vacant Oriental and Pacific Federation Silver Bantamweight Belt in 2018 and the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight title in 2020. Since then he’s also won the WBC Asian Continental and WBC Asian Bantamweight Belts.
Prediction…
Salapat has fought outside of Thailand just once and that was his lone defeat when Takuma Inoue beat him in 2018. He’s won numerous regional titles and has plenty of skills and power but other than Inoue, has never really faced a legitimate top-10 contender. He has tons of experience, but mainly against lower-level domestic opponents. Nakatani has certainly fought tougher opposition, is fighting at home and possesses more power. This could be a close and very interesting contest for the first few rounds but I’m expecting Nakatani to outbox Salapat and there’s a chance this fight may go the distance.
Nakatani’s power and skills should do the trick.
Play: Nakatani -5000 @ BetOnline.ag
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Junto Nakatani betting • Tasana Salapat betting