Tenshin Nasukawa hoped a win over Takuma Inoue would set up a Japanese mega-fight with Naoya Inoue, with Takuma serving as a gatekeeper to his older brother, boxing’s pound-for-pound king. Unfortunately for Nasukawa, that pathway to the undisputed super bantamweight champion remains firmly closed off for now.
Inoue climbed off the floor in Round 7 to capture a unanimous decision (114-113, 116-111, 116-111) and repeat his win over Nasukawa in their all-Japanese WBC bantamweight title fight in the early hours of Sunday morning at Toyota Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
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Inoue (23-2, 5 KOs) controlled the first six rounds against the former kickboxing legend, finding a home for his right hand on Nasukawa’s chin. The first half of the fight was slow-paced and devoid of much of the action fans were expecting.
Nasukawa (8-2, 3 KOs) turned that around in Round 7 when he knocked the defending champion down with a southpaw left.
Although the action picked up in the second half after the knockdown, it ultimately did not prove to be the turning point in the fight for Nasukawa.
Inoue was backed up on the ring ropes in Round 7 as he sought respite while Nasukawa tried to force the stoppage. That proved unsuccessful, and Inoue enjoyed a strong bounce-back round in the eighth, connecting with rights.
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The open scoring after eight rounds revealed that Inoue was up 77-74 on three scorecards and thus — with the exception of knockdowns and point deductions — Nasukawa needed to win all four of the remaining frames to dethrone Inoue of his title.
Although Nasukawa managed to make the final four frames tighter, he still was susceptible to Inoue’s right hand. As Nasukawa closed the gap more consistently in the second half of the fight, Inoue enjoyed success walking him into shots and when they traded on the inside.
Inoue, knowing he had the win in the bag, fought conservatively in the final round, cautious of not letting Nasukawa score another crucial knockdown and steal the fight late. His fears proved to be unwarranted, though, as two judges returned wide scorecards in Inoue’s favor, declaring him a five-point winner.
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Check out complete results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play of the entire fight card.
Fight card
WBC bantamweight title: Takuma Inoue def. Tenshin Nasukawa via unanimous decision (114-113, 116-111, 116-111)
IBF interim super bantamweight title: Sam Goodman def. Ryosuke Nishida via unanimous decision (114-111, 116-109, 115-110)
WBC super flyweight title: Ricardo Malajika def. Tomoya Tsuboi via split decision (116-112, 113-115, 115-113)
WBO interim minimumweight title: Ryusei Matsumoto def. Russell Acosta Silveira via unanimous decision (115-113, 116-112, 118-110)
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Darshan Desai
114-113
116-111 ×2
Takuma Inoue defeats Tenshin Nasukawa in their rematch to retain his WBC bantamweight title by unanimous decision.
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Darshan Desai
Three minutes to go and Tenshin surely will need a KO to win the rematch.
A quiet opening minute in a round where you’d have thought that Tenshin would have gone for broke. Nice spurt of work from Tenshin as he puts Inoue against the ropes and rips a few two-piece combinations. Final minute coming up. A good finish for Nasukawa, who scored with a left to the chin. Inoue has basically decided to give this round up – he must think that he has done enough. They will let their hands go in the closing seconds.
10-9 Nasukawa, 115-112 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
A brilliant left hook from Inoue to open Round 11. Back comes Tenshin with a combination, where the left hand knocked back the head of Inoue. This one started of slow, but it has really caught fire after five or six rounds. Great work on the inside from Inoue at the two-minute mark. He was walking Tenshin into short shots, particularly the left hook. Now, they trade at close quarters, and they come together in a clinch. Things are getting physical as the pair are tiring and the shots aren’t being thrown with the same crispness. A strong left-hand for Tenshin to end the penultimate frame.
10-9, 106-102 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
Nine minutes to go in this one. The ninth was a swing round, but Uncrowned awarded it to Inoue.
They come together on a few occasions early in Round 10 and are embroiled in clinches until the referee breaks them apart. A quiet first minute, but then Inoue lands a right-hand counter. Tenshin attempts to score with his left. Inoue’s right is still the weapon of his success. Nice right from Inoue at long range. Tenshin tries to close down the gap. And he does that time and lands lefts to the chin and body of Inoue. Two good power punches on the inside for Inoue. This is another close round. A right-hand finds the target for Inoue on the inside.
10-9, 96-93 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
77-74 Inoue
77-74 Inoue
76-75 Tenshin
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Darshan Desai
Tenshin is back on the backfoot to begin Round 8. Inoue has definitely recovered now and is getting the better of the eighth, as he catches Inoue with a cuffing right just before entering the final minute. The right hands are landing well for Inoue again. Tenshin is now pressuring Inoue on the front foot – he may walk onto rights, but this is how he needs to fight.
10-9 Inoue, 76-75 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
One-two goes Tenshin and Takuma Inoue is DOWN in the first minute of Round 7. Big breakthrough for Nasukawa just when he needed it. Nasukawa has Inoue against the ropes and he is looking to unload. Inoue tries to smother and hold onto him. I think Inoue is still hurt. He eats a body punch. Left hands are getting through from Nasukawa. More success for Tenshin as Inoue is backed up on the ropes. Inoue is BUZZED by another left. Inoue would’ve gone down if he didn’t hold onto the ring ropes to keep him up. That should’ve been called a knockdown as well.
10-8 Nasukawa, 66-66
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Darshan Desai
Round 5 was another for Inoue on Uncrowned’s scorecard.
Nice right from Inoue to begin the sixth. That shot has landed throughout the first half of this rematch. Nasukawa, as a southpaw, is not defensively prepared for that right-hand down the middle, which really shouldn’t be the case. A left hand from Nasukawa; Inoue responds with two rights. Now, a burst of speed from Inoue. Body shot for Inoue, while Nasukawa catches him with a hook. The action is finally starting to heat up. Lovely uppercut for Inoue. And a right hand down the middle. Nasukawa tries to force himself into range and onto the chin of Inoue with punches. Nice left-hand for Tenshin – he knew where Inoue would dip and landed there. A right hook for Tenshin in the final 10 seconds.
10-9 Nasukawa, 58-56 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
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Darshan Desai
Takuma Inoue is certainly getting the better of Tenshin Nasukawa through four rounds. He is controlling the action with his jab and long right-hand accuracy. This fight certainly won’t be matching Sam Goodman-Ryosuke Nishida for Fight of the Year, though. The pockets of action have been few and far between.
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Darshan Desai
40-36 Inoue
39-37 Inoue
38-38 draw
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Darshan Desai
Inoue fires to the body with a long right hand. Now, he connects with shot to the chin; Tenshin returns fire. Nasukawa knocks back the head of Inoue. Inoue scores with a right and seems to have some success on the inside as well. To the body, he goes now. Inoue walks Tenshin into a left hook. The crowd is really trying to get behind Tenshin, and he needs it. They both miss with body shots. Lovely combination of shots from Inoue. Tenshin’s glove touched the canvas, but no knockdown was called.
10-9, 39-37 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
Two right hands from Inoue find the target – as does a third – early in this frame. This is the second in a row where Inoue has had a strong opening. Inoue is able to break that Tenshin guard by throwing the right hand at different angles. Inoue darts into range with a one-two and then he’s back out. Tenshin is trying the southpaw left – I mean, his success isn’t as strong as the crowd would like you to think. Body shot for Inoue.
10-9, 29-28 Inoue
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Darshan Desai
Some early pressure from Inoue to begin Round 2. Inoue walks Tenshin onto a shot. A lot of posturing and no punching from either. Nasukawa walks Inoue onto a jab but eats a right hand in response. He then tries a counter uppercut on Inoue. The crowd got excited as Tenshin landed a left, but it was not overly meaningful. Inoue is on the canvas, Tenshin celebrates, but no knockdown is called. They trade shots late in Round 2.
10-9 Inoue, 19-19
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Darshan Desai
It’s southpaw vs. orthodox, as Nasukawa, the left-hander, will surely look to take away Inoue’s strong jab from him. Inoue is jabbing early. He is on the front foot. An overhand right from Inoue just falls short. Nasukawa lands with a left – the crowd is clearly in his favor. Nasukawa connects to Inoue’s midsection with a jab. Not much to write home about early.
10-9 Nasukawa
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Darshan Desai
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Darshan Desai
We are ready for the rematch.
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Darshan Desai
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Darshan Desai
Takuma Inoue defends his WBC bantamweight title in a rematch with Tenshin Nasukawa.
Inoue (22-2, 5 KOs) is the brother of pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue. He won the vacant WBC belt with a unanimous decision over Nasukawa in November 2025.
Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KOs) is widely hailed as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. The Japanese superstar has also fought once since suffering his first career loss against Inoue, stopping Juan Francisco Estrada this past April.
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Darshan Desai
114-111
116-109
115-110
It’s unanimous for Sam Goodman, who captures the IBF interim super bantamweight title.
Read the full article here
