Junto Nakatani will return home for his next title defense.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the reigning WBO flyweight champ will next face countryman Ryota Yamauchi. The bout will serve as the co-feature to the already announced middleweight title unification clash between WBA “Super” titlist Ryota Murata (16-2, 13KOs) and IBF claimant Gennadiy Golovkin set for April 9 on DAZN from Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The event marks the first fight on home soil for Nakatani (22-0, 17KOs) since winning the vacant WBO belt in an eighth-round knockout of Giemel Magramo in November 2020. The fight took place behind closed doors due to the pandemic, which will make his upcoming title defense the first in front of a home audience since a sixth-round knockout of Milan Melindo in October 2019.

Nakatani enjoyed a successful first title defense with a third-round stoppage of former WBO junior flyweight beltholder Angel Acosta last September at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona. The fight marked the U.S. debut for Nakatani, a 24-year old southpaw from Sagamihara, Japan who has trained in Southern California under the well-respected Rudy Hernandez for the past several years.

Yamauchi (8-1, 7KOs) enters his first career title fight, having won his last four starts since a twelve-round points loss to former title challenger Wulan Tuolehazi in March 2019. The 27-year-old Tokyo native—who turned pro in June 2017—scored a seventh-round knockout of Yuta Nakayama in his most recent start last June at Korakuen Hall, which has housed all eight career wins to date.

The show will also feature former WBO junior lightweight titlist Masayuki Ito, a stablemate of Nakatani who is now campaigning at lightweight. Tokyo’s Ito (27-3-1, 15KOs) will face unbeaten countryman Shuichiro Yoshino (14-0, 11KOs) in a scheduled 12-round regional title fight.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox