The official scores at Tokyo Dome were 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Some of those numbers, however, don't tell the story of a fight that was extremely close.

Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) was tested more than in any bout since his 2019 Fight of the Year against Nonito Donaire and was shaken up by the hard-hitting challenger in the late rounds.

"Please show appreciation to Junto Nakatani," said a magnanimous Inoue via translator during his post-fight interview. "This was a great win for me because Junto is a pound-for-pound related athlete, too."

A spectacular Inoue ring entrance, replete with electric guitars blazing, flame throwers and a treasure trove of championship belts, preceded one of the finest fights that could be made in boxing. The champion stared daggers at Nakatani during the referee’s instructions, and the bell rang amid a raucous atmosphere.

A quiet opening round featured plenty of reconnaissance. Nakatani probed patiently behind his southpaw right hand but never released it in anger. Inoue did score with sharp rights to the body, which Nakatani threatened to counter with the left more than once.

It was feint and counter-feint as both men battled for foot position in the orthodox versus southpaw duel. Nakatani had control in that area at times but was cautious and reticent to throw. Inoue struggled with the range and only found the target sparingly.

Utilizing head movement, Inoue finally found his way inside in round 4, scoring with a jolting jab to the head after feinting that shot to the body. It was boxing chess contested at the highest level and Inoue was a little more adventurous. He pot-shotted well, while Nakatani was only looking.

That all changed in the sixth when the challenger joined the fight. Two multi-punch combinations landed to the head and there was one memorable one-two that put Inoue back on his heels. The crowd whooped and hollered in response.

Great fighters adjust mid-fight, however, and Inoue is a great fighter. He raised his guard high and pressed Nakatani, closing the gap and scoring more than he had in any of the prior rounds. This was a clear session for "The Monster" in a bout that was now producing the expected ebb and flow.

Not to be outdone, Nakatani came firing back in earnest in the eighth. He scored a nice combination at center ring and worked the right hook well. The best punch of the round – a clean-up left uppercut – just missed Inoue, who smiled in derision.

While the ninth was close, Nakatani's combination work and a solid brace of right hooks swung it his way.

The tenth was huge for Nakatani, who repeatedly stunned Inoue with vicious power shots that clearly had an effect. Just as he was gaining a serious foothold, the pair clashed heads and Nakatani got the worst of it, a large laceration opening up between his eyes. Referee Robert Hoyle halted the action briefly, but when it resumed, Nakatani was all over the Japanese hero again.

Sensing urgency, Inoue activated "greatness" mode when the championship rounds commenced. He posted his best round in the 11th, hurting Nakatani twice with strong rights that had his countryman in full retreat.

The closing round wasn't the fight's best, but I felt Nakatani just about edged the session. It was a very hard fight to score at times, so a close points win in either direction was always possible.

Inoue has now made seven defenses of his undisputed championship and defeated a fellow pound-for-pound entrant. Anyone denying this man's status as an all-time great in the sport really needs to give themselves a shake.

At just 28 years of age, Nakatani has plenty of time to rebuild and forge his own legacy. Already a three-weight world titleholder, he has proved himself an elite-level operator – ignore anyone saying otherwise now that he's lost to a generational great – and there are plenty of big fights available for him.

Yoshiki Takei (12-1, 9 KOs) returned to action with an eight-round majority decision over unheralded Chinese fighter DeKang Wang (9-2, 3 KOs) at junior featherweight. Official scores were 77-75, 77-75 and 76-76.

This was Takei's first outing since surrendering his WBO bantamweight title in a fourth-round stoppage loss to Christian Medina last September. Takei won the tune-up legitimately, but there were worrying moments throughout as the ex-champ looked fragile on the end of some big but ponderous-looking power shots.

That's not a good sign for the 29-year-old if he returns to the top level.