When Junto Nakatani stepped into the ring to face Ryosuke Nishida with each man’s bantamweight world title hanging in the balance, he also had to contend with an unseen force whose presence was felt almost as heavily as the punches the boxers traded for six rounds.
Naoya Inoue was not in the ring at Ariake Coliseum on Sunday night — although he was in the front row watching from behind a pair of sunglasses — but he might as well have been. The specter of the “Monster” clings to Nakatani these days, lurking behind every corner and lingering over every sparring session, every fight and every meeting with the media.
Nakatani does not only carry the weight of world titles on his shoulders but also the pressure to hold up his end of the bargain on the road to a blockbuster showdown against Inoue that looms larger each time one of them steps in the ring.
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