TOKYO –
World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue will face top-ranked challenger and former kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa in a extremely anticipated rematch at Toyota Arena Tokyo on September 27, organizers introduced on July 23.
The struggle will return the 2 Japanese rivals to the identical venue the place Inoue defeated Nasukawa by unanimous determination of their vacant WBC title bout on November 24, 2025, handing the previous kickboxing champion the primary official defeat of his fight sports activities profession.
Inoue, who represents the Ohashi gymnasium, promised an much more decisive victory when the fighters appeared at an out of doors public news convention in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. “I will shut him out and send him back. I want him to experience the humiliation of losing twice in a row,” he mentioned.
Nasukawa of the Teiken gymnasium responded by predicting a knockout victory. “The emotions I feel cannot be expressed in words that exist in this world,” he mentioned. “What I left behind when I lost was enormous. I am going to have him return it with plenty of interest.”
Their first assembly was staged to fill the WBC bantamweight championship left vacant after Junto Nakatani relinquished the belt and moved as much as the tremendous bantamweight division. Nasukawa entered because the WBC’s top-ranked contender, whereas Inoue was ranked second and in search of to regain world champion standing after dropping his WBA bantamweight title to Seiya Tsutsumi in October 2024.
Nasukawa started the primary struggle sharply, utilizing his southpaw stance, pace and longer-range assaults to manage the opening rounds. He landed a left overhand within the first spherical and initially prevented Inoue from settling into his most popular distance.
Inoue steadily adjusted from the third spherical, shifting ahead extra constantly, closing the house and forcing Nasukawa to struggle at a shorter vary. He blended correct proper arms with assaults to the physique, lowering Nasukawa’s capacity to dictate the competition from the skin.
Under the WBC’s open-scoring system, the judges’ totals have been introduced after the fourth and eighth rounds. All three judges had the struggle degree at 38-38 after 4 rounds. By the tip of the eighth, Inoue had begun to maneuver forward, with scores of 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74.
In the second half, Inoue maintained his strain and repeatedly took the initiative. Nasukawa tried to reverse the momentum with straight left arms and proper hooks, however Inoue blocked or prevented lots of the assaults and continued to manage the space.
After 12 rounds, judges Omar Minton and Tetsuya Iida scored the struggle 116-112, whereas Koji Tanaka returned a wider rating of 117-111, all in favor of Inoue. The victory made Inoue a world champion for the third time and returned him to the highest of the bantamweight division about 13 months after his loss to Tsutsumi.
The consequence additionally ended Nasukawa’s unbeaten run throughout kickboxing, mixed-rules contests {and professional} boxing. He had entered the bout with 53 consecutive official victories throughout fight sports activities and a 7-0 skilled boxing report after switching disciplines in 2023.
Although Nasukawa confirmed that his pace and reflexes may bother a seasoned world champion, the primary struggle uncovered the distinction in expertise over 12 rounds. Inoue tailored as the competition progressed, whereas Nasukawa struggled to regain management as soon as he was pushed out of his most popular long-range rhythm.
Both fighters have strengthened their positions for the reason that first assembly. Inoue retained the WBC title with a unanimous-decision victory over four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka at Tokyo Dome on May 2, whereas Nasukawa returned with a victory over former four-division champion Juan Francisco Estrada.
The rematch will subsequently be greater than an instantaneous try at revenge for Nasukawa. It will take a look at whether or not he has developed sufficiently to resolve the strain, positioning and tactical changes that carried Inoue to victory of their first struggle.
For Inoue, the competition gives a chance to display that the unique consequence was not merely a product of better expertise, however proof of a transparent technical benefit over certainly one of Japan’s most recognizable fight sports activities figures.
Source: Kyodo