Photos By Naoki Fukuda
By Joe Koizumi
Takuma Inoue (21-2, 5 KOs), 117.75, regained the vacant WBC bantamweight belt by winning a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten ex-kick boxing legend Tenshin Nasukawa (7-1, 2 KOs), 117.75, over twelve hard-fought rounds on Monday at Toyota Arena Tokyo. Official scores were as follows: Omar Minton, Tetsuya Iida both 116-112, Koji Tanaka 117-111, all in favor of Takuma. The referee was Michael Griffin.
It was Takuma’s superior ring experience that turned the tide midway in the close affair to eventually result in his coronation. Tenshin, whose kick-boxing mark was reportedly 42-0 except an annihilation by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an exhibition in 2018, made a good start with a solid southpaw left in the first round and a strong right hook in the second session.
But Takuma, from the third round on, took back the initiative to control the contest in later rounds. Takuma positively mixed it up by throwing more accurate shots toe-to-toe, steadily piling up points. After the eighth, the open scoring system indicated Takuma leading on points: 77-75, 78-74, 76-76. Tenshin displayed his last surge but Takuma fought back hard to finally seize an important victory.
Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.
WBC supervisor: WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/667667
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