By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda (to come soon)
WBC bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (23-2, 5 KOs), 117.75, came off the canvas in round seven and pounded out a unanimous decision (114-113, 116-111 twice) over WBC#1 Tenshin Nasukawa (8-2, 3 KOs), 118, to retain his belt on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. Making his second defense, Takuma was in command in the first four rounds. Tenshin, however, sent the champ to the deck with a smashing southpaw left in the seventh and almost turned the tide then and there. After the eighth, the open scoring system indicated a split processing—77-74 twice for Takuma, 76-75 for Tenshin. The last four sessions were a war with each struggling to score decisive blows to the grudge rival, and it was Takuma that connected on short combinations with better precision. Their anticipated rematch had the audience at Toyota Arena Tokyo on its feet into a frenzy.
Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.
(More to come)
