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Oscar Valdez vs. Robson Conceicao may be a dud, but it looks like there’ll be at least one quality title fight on that September 10th card, as Teiken’s Akihiko Honda claims that Junto Nakatani will defend his WBO flyweight belt against power-punching Angel Acosta.
This one’s been in the works for a while; Nakatani (21-0, 16 KO), who’s already established himself as one of the best in the business at just 23, was supposed to face Acosta (22-2, 21 KO) on May 29th before Japan’s Olympics-enhanced COVID protocols put the kibosh on it. The pair re-entered negotiations and successfully avoided a June 1st purse bid, setting the stage for a second attempt.
As we’ve said before, this is an excellent matchup between an extremely promising young champion and a former titlist with genuine thump in his hands. It’s a damn sight more appealing than the main event, at least, and a stateside debut for Nakatani could raise the possibility of unification in the near future.