Japan’s Inoue beats Nakatani to retain undisputed super bantamweight title

Naoya Inoue wins 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 in a fight billed as the biggest boxing match in ​Japanese history.Japanese boxer ‌Naoya Inoue has retained his undisputed super ⁠bantamweight world ⁠title with a unanimous decision victory over compatriot Junto Nakatani after a gripping 12-round ⁠contest in Tokyo.Inoue said he was “relieved” to beat Nakatani and stay unbeaten in front of 55,000 fans at a sold-out Tokyo-dome" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="121650" data-entity-type="location">Tokyo Dome on Saturday.The 33-year-old, famous as the Monster, extended his winning streak in world ⁠title bouts to 28 as judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 116-112 in his favour.“It was different to the fights I’ve had before, with the pressure. So I’m relieved that I won,” Inoue said afterwards.“I don’t know if tonight was a legendary night or not, but that’s coming soon.“Tonight isn’t the end point of my boxing career, and there’s still time to create more legendary occasions.”Inoue and Nakatani in action during their super bantamweight championship bout [Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP]Both boxers entered the bout unbeaten at 32-0 in a ‌contest billed as the biggest boxing match in Japanese history after Nakatani moved up a division late last year.Inoue charged early before Nakatani appeared to close the gap in the latter half of the fight as ⁠the pace intensified, but a ⁠clash of heads late in the 10th round opened a cut above the challenger’s eye and stalled his momentum.“Today I executed ⁠the plan that I’d been saying before the fight, to stay ⁠focused on winning, to make ⁠sure I was the one who came out as the winner,” Inoue said.“As you all know, Nakatani is a mentally strong ‌boxer. The fact that he is in the [top 10] pound-for-pound rankings makes this win worthwhile.”