WBO #14 lightweight Masayoshi Nakatani (19-1, 13 KOs) scored a spectacular with ninth round KO over IBF #5, WBO # 12 Felix Verdejo (27-2, 17 KOs) on Saturday night in the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Verdejo dropped Nakatani with right hands in rounds one and four. Nakatani turned the tables in round seven hurting Verdejo. Nakatani took over after that, dropping Verdejo twice in round nine to end it. Time was 1:45.
It was Nakatani’s first fight since a unanimous decision loss to Teofimo Lopez in July 2019. “I fought Lopez, and I want to fight him again, and that’s why I kept going,” said Nakatani afterward. “I want to go for the knockout like I did today. and that’s going to be my style.”
“Throwing shots from the top didn’t work. With the distance, it didn’t work, and I went from below to get the shots in.”
Great fight!!! Love when the underdog wins!
I expected Vedejo to win and ended up rooting and happy to see an adverse outcome
I’m with you berserker. That Nakatani is tough as nails!! He goes down twice then still has the where with all to comeback and win? Amazing win. I’m a fan.
Verdejo is a great boxer. There is nothing to be ashamed off but he is not prepared for the elite yet.
And he never will be.
I agree with you that Verdejo is a great person and I suspect a better person, but to me his problem is he has no chin, sad.
Nakatani whooped that ass and put on a great showing for himself!
Good scrap. But Nakatanis defense is shit. Exposed…
He was quite lucky not to be ko’d.
Verdejo looked superb for about 4 rounds, then Nakatani started coming on and wore Verdejo down. I was surprised Nakatani got up after the first knockdown. He looked like he was done. I really have to give him credit for being in great shape and having the will to get up and fight back.
Verdejo fought a good fight, but he’s had his problems in the second half of fights. He seems to wear down, and when he’s no longer sharp, he’s vulnerable to being badly hurt. Nakatani showed he could compete with the best in the division and should be in line for bigger fights in the future. It was a great win for him.
IMO, verdejo looked like crap from the first round. neither fighter impressed me. In fact, i was surprised at how inept they both looked as contenders for the vacant title. I just thought nakatani was garbage who got lucky to go the distance against teofimo due to nakatani’s height and reach. verdejo proves once again he was never the talent he was touted as when he first came on the scene. Verdejo is another bust in the mold of panchito bojado and a bunch of others who never lived up to the hype.
Nakatani fights with the heart and will of the Samurai warrior, but needs to sure up his defense, cause he can’t continue to absorb clean punches like that, he’ll be burnt out soon and walking on his heels at 50. Good win for the underdog though.
Verdejo now should be looking at retirement, if he hasn’t been a champ. by now, he’ll never going to get it. He’s getting to old.
maybe not match him with a pure puncher for now on. Verdejo is still a talented boxer.
That is what I call a mentally strong person and athlete, deserves another big time opportunity!!!
I thought this was a bad fight for Verdejo from the onset and knew he wasn’t ready for this just yet. Nakatami Is a brute fighter with a significant size advantage that makes up for his crude style. Kinda reminds me of Jared Hurd, Chavez Jr when he fought at middleweight and underdeveloped Jaime Munguia.Nakatami could fill up to be a middleweight but his lack of skills will get him starched rather quickly.
Lol! And they wanted to put him against teofimo Lopez…come on man! Ya wanted his career to end so fast but it happened even faster
Next to Aj vs Ruiz Jr. –This fight is a classic dual of power and speed vs will and patience
It was nice to see such a dramatic late round comeback. But Nakatani is a really flawed boxer and things will go badly if he continues to get drilled like that. Unfortunately for Verdejo his chin will always fail him.
You gotta love Nakatani-that picture pretty much sums up his look and style the entire fight!
Yeah, stick to boxing you idiotic, fascist dictator Don supporter…
Nakatani is a great boxer I knew He was going to win. He beat T.Lopez that was a very bad decision they made.
Nice win for nakatani
Verdejo has no stamina and chin, shaky legs since rd7 and then was KO with a Jab. Too many power punch without balance. The kid need to start another career.