Vinny's Corner

Takuma Inoue retained his WBC bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Tenshin Nasukawa in their rematch on September 27, 2026, at Toyota Arena in Tokyo.

The all-Japanese bout was a sequel to their November 24, 2025 meeting for the vacant title, which Inoue won by scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 117-111. That first fight handed the former kickboxing star Nasukawa his first professional boxing defeat after he started strong with his southpaw left hand before Inoue’s experience, body work, and straight right took over.

In the rematch, Inoue (now 23-2, 5 KOs) again controlled the early rounds with his jab and positioning. Nasukawa (8-2, 3 KOs) had promised to seize the initiative after the first loss and after a stoppage win over Juan Francisco Estrada that made him the mandatory challenger.

Nasukawa found a breakthrough in round 7, dropping Inoue and turning the fight into a more urgent contest. He pressed thereafter and won several of the middle-to-late rounds, but Inoue recovered, closed strongly enough in spots, and held on. Official scores were 116-111 twice and 114-113.

The younger brother of undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue thus completed a successful title defense in a more competitive fight than their first encounter. Nasukawa showed growth but fell short again of becoming a boxing world champion.

By Vinny