Robert Garcia is one of the most respected and authoritative boxing trainers on the international scene today. His role as a coach will prevent him from being in Tokyo this Saturday to watch the fight between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani live, as he will be working in the corner of Oscar Duarte in Las Vegas on the same day. Garcia will watch the all-Japanese clash on DAZN from his hotel room, and he already has a clear prediction in mind.
Speaking with The Ring, Garcia stated:
“I pick Inoue to win a decision in a great fight, but it’s not going to be easy. I believe this will be the hardest and toughest fight of Inoue’s career.”
Garcia pointed out that “The Monster” has been knocked down twice in his recent fights and that Nakatani has a style suited to producing a very competitive bout. Although Nakatani struggled in his last outing against the relentless Mexican puncher Sebastian Hernandez, Garcia believes those difficulties could benefit him in terms of experience.
From a tactical standpoint, Garcia thinks Nakatani cannot avoid engaging in a real battle and must accept the risks involved. In his view, throwing single punches would make it easy for Inoue to counter him.
The American trainer will be rooting for Nakatani due to his long-standing friendship with trainer Rudy Hernandez, who will be in the challenger’s corner on Saturday. He therefore hopes his prediction turns out to be wrong, but ultimately believes Inoue will come out on top.