The vast majority of the boxing guys I polled last week was right on the money.

Naoya Inoue lived up to his billing as the betting favorite when he beat compatriot Junto Nakatani on a unanimous decision last 2 May at the Tokyo Dome.

Of the dozen I asked for predictions, there was one fellow who issued the perfect forecast: Kei Nidaira.

The lovable Japanese fired me a text message. He didn’t just pick the winner. He was even bold enough to say that the fight will go the distance of 12 rounds.

Kei, who was once a member of Jerwin Ancajas’ team, said Inoue, nicknamed “Monster,” would beat Nakatani on a decision.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Inoue, displaying superb skills, retained the undisputed world super-bantamweight crown just as Kei said Inoue would.

Anyway, the biggest surprise wasn’t the correct answer.

All the dudes I spoke with picked Inoue.

But they all said Inoue would pull it off by knockouts.

Can’t blame them.

Inoue is a devastating puncher and the fact that it went 12 rounds shocked me as well.

 It based on Nakatani’s game plan, it was pretty clear that a knockout wasn’t happening that night.

Even Inoue himself was careful in his approach.

Again, cant’s blame the for employing those tactics.

It was a high-stakes match that getting reckless was one thing they both avoided becoming.

Did the result match all the hype?

Personally, I don’t think it did.

Oftentimes, fights being labeled as super fights fail to live up to the hype.

Sometimes super fights end up lacking in fireworks and in some cases, the outcome is one-sided.

In the case of the Inoue-Nakatani encounter, there wasn’t enough explosiveness not because the combatants became gun-shy.

It’s just that styles do mess up some pairings.

Nakatani was hesitant to engage and only wanted to counter.

Inoue, aware of his foe’s clear edge in height and reach, thought that going gung-ho could backfire.

So what Inoue did was apply safety techniques as well.

He didn’t just attack like before and this resulted to the lack of intensity.

In the end, there was no knockout and what Inoue wound up looking like was that of a skillful fighter, and not the monstrous performer the boxing world is accustomed to seeing.

It wasn’t a failure if you ask me because Inoue only proved that he remains one of the very best pound-for-pound punchers.

People are talking about a rematch.

Not a good idea because the result’s going to be the same.

But assuming a rematch happens, I will be looking forward to get Kei’s forecast.