Nakatani vs Cuellar headlines Feb. 24 bantamweight tripleheader

Junto Nakatani, Seiya Tsutsumi, and Tenshin Nasukawa will be in action on ESPN+ early next year

After picking up a trio of knockouts in 2024, pound-for-pound stalwart Junto Nakatani will headline a February 24th all-bantamweight tripleheader in Tokyo.

Nakatani (29-0, 22 KO) kicked off this year’s campaign by smashing Alexandro Santiago for the WBC title, then dispatched mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio in a single round before taking out Petch Sor Chitpattana in October. A potential superfight with Naoya Inoue is still on the table, but first he’ll have to get past undefeated David Cuellar (28-0, 18 KO), a 23-year-old whose most noteworthy wins came over the badly faded Moises Fuentes, Luis Concepcion, and most recently Jose Velasquez.

Fellow titlist Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8 KO), fresh off an upset of Takuma Inoue for the WBA belt, battles Daigo Higa (21-3-1, 19 KO) in a rematch of their 2020 draw. Still not fond of fighters getting title shots off of losses, but between their history, how hard Higa pushed Yoshiki Takei in September, and the fact that this has Fight of the Year written all over it, I’ll allow it.

Not clear why Nakatani and Tsutsumi aren’t just unifying; hopefully that’s on the table for summer if both pick up wins.

Perhaps the most interesting bout is the opener, which pits bona fide superstar Tenshin Nasukawa (5-0, 2 KO) against the always dangerous Jason Moloney (27-3, 19 KO). Nasukawa, a former kickboxing ace, looks to have shaken off the growing pains and emerged as a genuine contender. Moloney, though less than the sum of his parts and coming off an upset loss to Takei, remains a tough out for most of the division.