Nakatani, a rising star in the golden age of Japanese boxing, is determined to knock out Inoue

SAGAMIHARA, Japan — One is known as ''The Monster,'' the other ''Big Bang.''

The bout between champion boxers Naoya Inoue (30-0-0, 27 KOs) and Junto Nakatani (31-0-0, 24 KOs) is already being billed as Japan's ''fight of the century.'' And the date hasn't even been set.

Sports pundits are hailing what's happening these days as the golden age of Japanese boxing. And this is a nation that has produced its share of Hall of Famers.

For a period last year, all four division bantamweight champions were Japanese. The Ring magazine's latest Top Ten pound-for-pound ranking has three Japanese fighters, including Inoue and Nakatani.

Both Nakatani and Inoue have at least one fight before their dream match. But no one is expecting either of them to lose.

''That's the way boxing works. Inoue has a story, and I have a story. When these stories clash, people are moved and gain courage. That's where it is fun,'' Nakatani said in an interview with The Associated Press at M.T Boxing Gym southwest of Tokyo.

''For me, boxing is what you show in the ring all that you worked for and built every day. It's a place where you express the life you have lived,'' he said.

Nakatani smiles often, exuding a kindness that strikes a contrast to his almost scientific brutality in the ring.

If you ever get angry, you will lose, he said. One must keep control, as boxing is a contest of minds and strategies, doing exactly what your opponent does not want you to do.

Earlier this year, Inoue, the first Japanese fighter to be No. 1 in the pound-for-pound rankings, which evaluates boxers taking their weight and size into account, defended his super bantamweight title against Ramon Cardenas at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Inoue gave his fans a fright by getting knocked down in the second round but came back to soundly stop the fight in the eighth.

It was Inoue's second fight in Las Vegas, with his debut coming four years ago in a seventh-round knockout of Australian Jason Moloney.

Inoue, one of only three male boxers in the four-belt era to unify at two weight classes, is scheduled for a September showdown in Tokyo against Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan.

Nakatani's next opponent isn't decided yet. But speculation is rife it might be Cardenas, allowing fans to analyze how Nakatani fares compared to Inoue.

The buzz is spreading to a fan base previously not associated with boxing in Japan, like women and children.

These are fighters who draw long lines for their T-shirts and other merchandising, inspire manga, or Japanese comics, and pop up on hair product ads.

Boxing fever was hot with the packed crowd of 10,000 at the Ariake Coliseum for the WBC and IBF bantamweight unification title match between Nakatani and Ryosuke Nishida last month.

People are still talking about the fight, in which Nakatani came on fierce from the first round. Nishida's eye became swollen, his shoulder was dislocated, and the fight was stopped after the sixth round.

Nakatani said he won't be taking the same strategy against Inoue. The strategy was carefully planned with his Mexican American trainer Rudy Hernandez especially for Nishida.

''He is an athlete who has everything. He has outstanding boxing skills and so he is hard to beat. But even then, there are possibilities,'' Nakatani said of Inoue, vowing to beat him by knockout.

Inoue, who was at ringside to witness Nakatani's win, said afterward in a tweet: ''Welcome to the super bantamweight battle front. Can't help but get excited when there's a Japanese this good.''

Both Nakatani and Inoue started out learning karate as children.

Nakatani's father sent him to karate school when he was in third grade because he was always playing video games. He later switched to boxing, where he fared better because of the weight classes. He stopped playing games.

Nakatani's walkout music is a defiant rendition by aging rocker Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, vowing to give up a smug existence and instead be brave and selfless like the World War II kamikaze pilots.

Nakatani said he chose that song to express gratitude to past generations, who sacrificed so much to give his generation peace. It happens to be one of his dad's favorite songs.

Nakatani is taking it a step at a time. But he is already thinking about the legacy he will leave behind.

''When the time comes for me to retire, I want to end my career as the kind of boxer whom everybody loves,'' he said. ___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama