This much-anticipated encounter between two pound-for-pound stars in their prime years, one 28 and the other five years older, had many wondering aloud whether we'd see a passing of the torch.

Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) raced off to an early lead and while Nakatani (32-1, 24 KOs) will rue his reticence to commit behind attacks a touch earlier during their chess match, "The Monster" reinforced why he's The Ring's No. 2 on its pound-for-pound list.

Post-fight, he acknowledged the scale of this latest achievement after banking a third consecutive decision win.

"[Nakatani] is a Japanese pound-for-pound fighter who has risen through the ranks. There was pressure not to lose, it was a tense fight, so I'm relieved to have won."

Down the stretch Inoue couldn't help but scan the time clock as Nakatani cranked up the pressure in rounds five through ten, a frame where the younger man sustained an untimely cut.

"I was fighting while checking the points with my team. In rounds eight, nine and ten, I thought it might be okay to give up a few points, hold back a little and concede some points," he said.

"It was more my mental stamina that was depleted than physical. That's how tense the 12 rounds were, it was a technical battle of hitting and missing. We were both enjoying it in an enjoyable fight."

"My boxing career isn't at the end. We just finished the fight, so I think I'm going to have great history in the future. I hope I can make history more and more."

Although there is usually clamor over an immediate rematch after a closely-fought contest between two elite champions, particularly one as big as this was, it appears likely they'll head in different directions.

Nakatani was making just his second appearance at 122 pounds after holding Ring and unified bantamweight gold just eight months ago, while many have expected Inoue to end his career by chasing more glory at featherweight.

One more pound-for-pound star in Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez could entice him into staying at a division he's made his home since blasting past then-unified world champion Stephen Fulton in July 2023, with Turki Alalshikh keen to make that matchup early next year, assuming the American first succeeds against Antonio Vargas on June 13.

On Nakatani, Inoue believes his success will continue after regrouping from his career-first loss.

"He's mentally strong and I think he's a definitely a fighter who will become a champion [again] in the super bantamweight division."