Tenshin Nasukawa delivered a career-best performance in Tokyo, patiently pounding legendary Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada to what was effectively a ninth-round corner retirement (announced as a TKO). The winner secures himself another crack at the WBC bantamweight title.
While I can’t profess to be a connoisseur of the kickboxing code (or any other combat discipline for that matter), I hear that Nasukawa’s achievements in that realm are legendary.
When he stepped across to boxing and fought Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition match, any talk of being a two-sport champion seemed fanciful. The Japanese fighter has proven me wrong.
This fight, against Estrada, was an eliminator to become the mandatory challenger to the WBC bantamweight champ, Takuma Inoue. Last November, Tenshin challenged Inoue in Tokyo for the vacant title.
His lack of experience told as Inoue scored a deserved unanimous victory to become the title holder. Inoue defends the belt against Kazuto Ioka on May 2. The winner of that will now be waiting for a resurgent Nasukawa, who was in tears at the victory announcement here.
Nasukawa vs. Estrads Round-by-Round
Estrada, already a two-weight world champion, entered hoping to continue his journey toward becoming a third. It immediately became apparent how much of a sizeable task this would be, facing Naskuawa, who was taking part in only his ninth pro fight. At 27 years old, he had fought not only Inoue but also Aussie world-level operator Jason Moloney.
It really has been a meteoric and ambitious rise for the Chiba native, who looked to impose his natural size advantage in the opener, using his snaking jab to control a pensive Estrada.
Estrada got the right hand pumping in the second. Nasukawa, however, was doing a good job of mixing up the left hand off the back of his southpaw jab, keeping the Mexican guessing.
A low blow in the fourth briefly halted Estrada’s momentum during a better round, as he finally drew Naskuawa into more of a fight. The Japanese fighter made sure he responded every time.
Estrada’s work rate was not at the desired point to make Nasukawa work. At the close of the fifth, Tenshin’s footwork moved him inside as he lashed in some return fire.
There was a big head clash in the sixth, similar to the chief support undercard fight (see below), that left Estrada on the canvas, holding his head in pain. Luckily, he was able to continue, although all that awaited him were heavier hooks from the smooth-moving home stylist.
Nasukawa dominated the seventh, whipping in lead right uppercuts and left hands, pushing Estrada onto the back foot, making him look old, uncomfortable, and with an increasingly swelling face. Open scoring had it 77-75, 78-74 and 79-73 all in favour of Nasukawa after eight.
I had it 7-1 at that stage, to a young man managing the fight perfectly. Estrada’s usually nifty footwork was missing. He was unable to make Nasukawa reach in, thus opening counterpunch opportunities. Nasukawa’s boxing brain, timing and shot selection were all on point.
He flicked through the gears once more in the final minute of the ninth session. Referee Michael Griffin was watching on closely, as were his corner team, deciding their veteran charge had taken enough punishment for one evening.
Estrada exited the ring in pain, indicating something was broken. Perhaps his ribs, certainly his fighting spirit. Tenshin Nasukawa is now 8-1 (3 KOs) while Estrada falls to 45-5 (28 KOs), likely contemplating retirement after a long 18-year career.
Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Tenshin Nasukawa undercard recap
Tomoya Tsuboi was expecting to push things along swiftly in fight number four. Unfortunately, a full-on head clash with former world champion Pedro Guevara left the visitor with a bad cut, sprawled on the canvas, likely concussed. All of this resulted in a Technical Draw.
LA-based prospect Katsuma Akitsugi arrived with a 14-0 slate but left with a blemish, losing a 10-round majority decision to unheralded Mexican Jose Miguel Calderon Cervantes.
Opening the card, Keita Kubotera stopped Crisaldy Beltran in round five of a scheduled six.
Kyosuke Takami vs Angel Ayala Lardizabal will be rescheduled because Takami was unable to obtain medical clearance after reportedly becoming dizzy.
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