News broke earlier this year that flyweight wunderkind Junto Nakatani would make the first defense of his WBO title against former light flyweight champ Angel Acosta on May 29th, but the increasingly strict COVID protocols Japan enacted in preparation for Tokyo 2021 put the kibosh on that. Luckily, the fight is still alive, and the sanctioning body has scheduled a June 1st purse bid with a minimum offer of $80,000.
As Carlos Toro reminds us, Nakatani (21-0, 16 KO) will be the beneficiary of a 75/25 split unless it’s held in Acosta’s (22-2, 21 KO) native Puerto Rico, at which point WBO regulations will change it to 80/20.
Both men deserve to be properly compensated for this, as it has legitimate Fight of the Year potential. Nakatani is an enormously promising talent at just 23 years old and Acosta genuinely does possess the punching power his record suggests. Get these men some proper purses and a stateside broadcast.