By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten lightweight prospect Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York will be taking on undefeated Masayoshi Nakatani of Japan in Oxon Hill, Maryland this Friday, July 19th. The 12-round bout can be seen in the USA live on ESPN+. Lopez last fought in April when he stopped European Lightweight Champion Edis Tatli in the fourth round to defend his NABF Lightweight Title. Nakatani last saw ring action in December when he stopped Hurricane Futa in the fourth round to defend his OPBF Lightweight Crown.
Lopez will turn just 22 years old at the end of July but he’s one of the sport’s top prospects right now due to his whirlwind, non-stop style in the ring. He climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 13-0 and has 11 Kos to his name. He’s got dynamite in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 85 per cent. However, just the sheer volume of punches he throws usually stops his opponents. He’s 5-feet-8-inches tall with a wingspan of 68.5 inches. Lopez turned pro in November of 2016 and has fought just 46 rounds since.
Lopez enjoyed a fine amateur career and fought for Honduras at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he lost in the first round of the competition. He’s a former national Golden Gloves Champion and has had no problem adapting to pro boxing. Lopez simply likes to overwhelm his opponents with as many punches as possible and so far has beaten the likes of Tatli, Diego Magdaleno, Mason Menard, William Silva, Vitor Jones, Juan Pablo Sanchez and Francisco Medel.
Most fans have probably never heard of the 30-year-old Nakatani but the native of Osaka is the reigning Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Lightweight Champion. He won the title in January of 2014 with a majority decision over Yoshitaka Kato and has successfully defended it 11 times. He steps into the squared circle with a perfect mark of 18-0 with 12 Kos. However, unless you hail from his part of the world you won’t recognize any of his opponents and this will be his first fight outside of Japan.
Still, Nakatani appears to have decent power with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent. He’s topped his last four opponents and seven of the last eight. He also has a pretty good height advantage over Lopez since he’s close to six-feet tall with a reach of 71 inches. This gives him a 3.5-inch height edge over Lopez as well as 2.5-inches in reach. He made his pro debut back in 2011 and has boxed a total of 119 rounds since.
Prediction…
Lopez is an extremely talented and confident young man while the veteran Nakatani is a solid boxer with good size. This fight is being billed as an IBF title eliminator with the winner to meet champion Richard Commey and Lopez is being groomed to take on Vasyl Lomachenko in the future. Nakatani said he plans too be the aggressor and this should make for an interesting fight. He’s going to need excellent speed and a solid chin though to succeed. Lopez is the big favourite here and unless he’s been overrated he should remain unbeaten due to his speed and power.
