Hernandez outworked Nakatani on the inside from the fourth round. By the tenth, he had a 27-year-old Junto who looked worn out, forced to move due to the punishment he endured fighting Sebastian toe-to-toe.
The bout served as the co-main event of The Ring V: Night of the Samurai, which was headlined by Naoya Inoue.
This was Nakatani’s first appearance at super bantamweight after moving up from bantamweight earlier in the year, following his decision to vacate his unified titles. The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds and was not contested for a championship.
Nakatani controlled much of the early part of the fight with his activity from the southpaw stance, picking up rounds with his jab and straight left hand while keeping the pace high.
Hernandez took time to settle, but became more effective from the middle rounds, especially on the inside. He increased his volume, worked more consistently on the inside and forced exchanges that made the fight more physical.
Nakatani absorbed more shots than usual and showed visible swelling around his right eye as the fight wore on, though he continued to answer with cleaner punches in spots.
The fight went to the cards after 12 rounds. Two judges scored it narrowly, while one card reflected a larger margin than the action suggested. The decision ended Nakatani’s recent winning streak, but showed he can handle the demands of the higher weight class.
Overall, it wasn’t the ideal performance by Nakatani to set the table for a fight against Inoue. It wasn’t an impressive enough fight tonight by Nakatani to get excited about him against Inoue. Ideally, Junto should fight Reyes again to show that he can win more decisively.
