Early career Nakatani fought the first 18 bouts of his professional career in his native Japan. During this time, he won the OPBF lightweight title in January 2014, and successfully defended it 11 times.
Nakatani vs. Verdejo On December 12, 2020 in
Paradise, Nevada, Nakatani defeated
Félix Verdejo by ninth-round technical knockout despite being down on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage to capture the vacant
WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title. The bout was an exciting one, with both men exchanging two knockdowns apiece.
Nakatani vs. Lomachenko Nakatani returned to the ring on June 26, 2021 in Paradise, Nevada to face former
three-division world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, with whom he shares a common
loss to Teófimo López. Nakatani was knocked down twice en route to a ninth-round technical knockout loss. ==Professional boxing record==