Junto Nakatani hopes a year from now he’ll be busy promoting a much more significant fight against another Japanese champion.

At the moment, however, the strong southpaw is appreciative of an opportunity to add two more bantamweight championships to his collection Sunday night in Tokyo. Sagamihara’s Nakatani (30-0, 23 KOs) and Osaka’s Ryosuke Nishida (10-0, 2 KOs) will square off at Ariake Coliseum.

At stake will be Nakatani’s WBC, Nishida’s IBF and the vacant Ring 118-pound championships in a 12-round, 118-pound main event ESPN+ will stream in the United States (4:30 a.m. ET) and the United Kingdom (9:30 a.m. GMT).

“A unification fight in the bantamweight division between two Japanese fighters, it’s the first time in history,” Nakatani told The Ring. “I want to be able to get a good win and leave a good impression of me in the fight.”

Nakatani has left a very positive impression as he builds momentum toward a showdown with Naoya Inoue, Japan’s biggest boxing star.

The former WBO junior bantamweight and WBO flyweight champion is ranked No. 7 among The Ring’s top 10 fighters, pound-for-pound, in the world. Inoue occupies No. 2 on that list.

“My life has been all about becoming a world champion and a great fighter and being able to prove I am worthy of being on the pound-for-pound list,” Nakatani said. “It makes all of my training and sacrifices I’ve made over the years, throughout my life, pay off. I hope to become stronger in the future and climb up that list further.”

Defeating Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), a four-weight world champion, would obviously enable Nakatani to crack at least the top five on The Ring’s list. First Nakatani, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked bantamweight, and the second-ranked Nishida, will fight for the unclaimed Ring bantamweight title.

“My opponent is a very strategic fighter,” Nakatani said. “I don’t wanna fall into his strategy and get into his fight. I expect this to be a very heated fight because it is a title unification fight.”

Nishida upset Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-3, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision in May 2024 to win his IBF belt at Edion Arena in Osaka. The 28-year-old southpaw knocked out Thailand’s Anuchai Donsua (17-1, 8 KOs) in the seventh round of his initial title defense Dec. 15 at Sumiyoshi Sports Center in Osaka.

“The first time I saw [Nishida] fight was actually when he won the title,” Nakatani said. “Rodriguez was the champion and I kind of wanted to fight him, but when Nishida won that was a surprise to me.”

Nakatani, 27, has won each of his four bantamweight bouts by knockout.

“We’d have to see once he gets in the ring and how he comes out,” Nakatani said, “but he might want to fight at his distance.”