[3] He is also ranked as the world's best active bantamweight by The Ring,[4] ESPN,[5] BoxRec,[6] and by TBRB[7] Nakatani made his professional debut on 26 April 2015, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Junichi Itoga at the Industrial Hall in Gifu, Japan.
He beat Joel Taduran by a fourth-round technical knockout and Yuma Kudo by majority decision over the next two rounds, before facing Seigo Yuri Akui in the tournament finals.
[19] Nakatani was scheduled to make his first title defense against the former WBO light flyweight champion Ángel Acosta on May 29, 2021, in his native Japan.
[20] Increasingly strict COVID-19 regulations imposed by the Japanese government and international travel issues forced the postponement of the bout, with Nakatani's management tentatively announcing the fight for late May or early June.
[25] He won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout, forcing referee Katsuhiko Nakamura to stop the bout with a flurry of punches at the 2:20 minute mark.
[29] On 1 January 2023, the reigning WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka was ordered by the sanctioning body to make a mandatory title defense against Nakatani.
[30] As Ioka vacated the title on 14 February to pursue a rematch with Joshua Franco,[31] Nakatani was instead ordered to face Andrew Moloney for the vacant championship.
Nakatani was scheduled to make his first WBO super flyweight title defense against Argi Cortes on September 18, 2023, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Nakatani was scheduled to make the first defense of his WBC bantamweight title against mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on July 20, 2024.
[37] Nakatani made the second defense of his WBC bantamweight title against Petch Sor Chitpattana on October 14, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
[39] Nakatani is scheduled to make the third defense of his WBC bantamweight title against David Cuellar Contreras at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on February 24, 2025.