Junto Nakatani had to fight through fire to escape with a narrow points win against Sebastian Hernandez in December as part of "The Ring V: Night of the Samurai" card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The three-division champion and pound-for-pound ranked Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) was making his 122-pound debut against a mostly unknown yet undefeated power-punching Mexican contender during the fight.

But as countless rugged Mexican challengers have previously proved, Hernandez rose to the occasion and gave Nakatani more than everyone expected en route to a unanimous decision loss in a Fight of the Year contender.

Days after edging a brutal win, Nakatani's trainer Rudy Hernandez shared his sentiment toward the slugfest that featured nearly 600 combined landed punches.

“What a fighter he is, Sebastian Hernandez,” Rudy Hernandez told The Ring. “He didn't have that much of a name coming in, but we probably fought one of the best 122 pounders in the world. Sebastian came to fight, and he put up a fight. He fought really hard and brought out the best in Junto. Junto had to dig deep within to be able to win.

“After the fight, the first thing that came to my mind was that he reminds me of the Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. of today. When Julio Cesar Chavez first came onboard, not many people knew who he was. He was a hard-working guy who would beat you down. I believe that Sebastian reminded me of Julio Cesar Chavez. He looked like him.”

Comparing Sebastian Hernandez (20-1, 18 KOs) to arguably the greatest Mexican fighter of all time is quite the compliment, but Team Nakatani deemed the plaudits are more than well deserved after the gritty performance.

Rudy Hernandez said he scored the fight 8 rounds to 4 in favor of Nakatani the first time he watched the fight replay, and 7-5 in favor of his charge after watching it again. Judges officially scored the fight 7-5, 7-5, and inexplicably, 10-2, for Nakatani.

“I believe we won the fight, but at the same time, Junto had to dig deep from within to win,” said Rudy Hernandez. “To say that Junto had an off night, that would discredit what Sebastian did. We won't do that. That's not fair. That would be insulting to Sebastian, who is a very good fighter. Junto had to give his all and very best to win. It wasn't easy.”

Rudy Hernandez recalled that while he was sleepless at 2 a.m. on the day of the fight, he got an inkling that Sebastian Hernandez would turn out to be anything but another pit stop in Nakatani’s fast-accelerating career.

“This is the God's honest truth. I'm like, what is it that I am not seeing about this guy?” admitted Rudy Hernandez. “I had a feeling that this was going to be a really hard fight even though Sebastian looked simple in other fights.

“Sometimes you don't know how good you really are until you're put in those situations, and we can say that now with Sebastian. He excelled in the situation.”

Rudy Hernandez said Sebastian Hernandez was not only rugged and hard charging but crafty as well by impeccably keeping his chin tucked in at all times to protect himself from having Nakatani’s crisp shots land cleanly.

“It was a big plus because there were times that Junto would throw straight shots, and his arm would end up at Sebastian's chest. By keeping his chin tucked, Sebastian consistently also guarded against the uppercut,” said Rudy Hernandez.

“We were trying to beat him on the outside and keep him at range and distance. But Sebastian cut the ring really well and stayed close to Junto. So we switched it up a little bit and stood there and fought him, but not by standing in front of him. It was to get the punches in and step to the side and not carry him.”

With the win, Nakatani now moves on to the super fight that is slated for this spring against fellow Japanese countryman and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue.

Sebastian Hernandez, meanwhile, should be a mainstay in the division mix, as he’s already ranked No. 5 in The Ring’s 122-pound rankings.

“Whatever doubts people had of Junto, he didn't quit, he didn't crumble, and he fought until the end,” added Rudy Hernandez. “There was never a moment in the fight where I questioned Junto. He withstood his own and he fought.

“And credit to Sebastian – he’s now on the map, and boy did he perform. He’s a really good fighter and I believe that he will be a world champion one day.”