Bob Arum anticipates the buildup for the fascinating Naoya Inoue-Junto Nakatani fight to captivate the boxing world.

The long-discussed showdown between the unbeaten Japanese champions will require them to keep winning over the course of the next eight or nine months. If they do their part, Arum, whose company co-promotes Inoue and Nakatani, expects the undisputed junior featherweight champ and the WBC bantamweight champ to square off at some point early next summer at a sold-out Tokyo Dome.

Nakatani, who will defend his WBC belt next month, has developed into the one opponent Arum isn’t completely convinced Inoue would beat.

“A lot of people say that Nakatani is the guy that could beat Inoue,” Arum told The Ring. “That’s why it’s such a big fight. That’s a real, real fight. People who really know and follow those lower weight divisions, they think that’s as interesting a fight, if not more so, than Canelo and Crawford. And it’ll be the biggest fight ever in the history of Japan.”

Inoue and Nakatani already have challenging fights scheduled in the coming months.

Sagamahira’s Nakatani (30-0, 23 KOs), who holds the WBC belt, and fellow Japanese southpaw Ryosuke Nishida (10-0, 2 KOs), who holds the IBF 118-pound title, fight June 8 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

The Ring rates Nakatani as its No. 1 contender in the bantamweight division, one spot in front of the second-ranked Nishida. The Ring’s bantamweight championship is unclaimed.

“All of these Japanese fighters in these lighter weight divisions, all the top guys, they can really fight,” Arum said. “They’re really disciplined. The guy Nakatani is fighting is very awkward and a southpaw. But Nakatani is well trained. I think, next to Inoue, Nakatani is the best Japanese fighter out there.”

Yokohama’s Inoue is expected to box Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev sometime in September in Japan.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), nicknamed “The Monster,” retained his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound championships May 4, when he recovered from a second-round knockdown to break down and stop San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) in the eighth round at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KOs) must beat Mexican underdog Luis Castillo (31-6, 20 KOs) in a 10-round main event DAZN will stream May 30 from Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico, to advance to the career-defining fight against Inoue that the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist has long wanted.

Akhmadaliev, 30, is The Ring’s No. 2 contender for Inoue’s junior featherweight title.

He has won back-to-back bouts by technical knockout since the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales upset him by split decision in April 2023 at Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas. Tapales (40-4, 21 KOs), whom Inoue beat by 10th-round knockout in December 2023 at Ariake Arena, is ranked No. 1 by The Ring in the 122-pound division.