By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda
Former kick-boxing star WBC#2 Tenshin Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KOs), 118, impressively scored a TKO victory over former two-division champ WBC#1 Juan Francisco Estrada (45-5, 28 KOs), 117.5, after the ninth round in a schedule twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. It was the WBC eliminator to decide the mandatory challenger to WBC titlist Takuma Inoue who had previously defeated Tenshin last November.
It was Bruce Lee stylist Tenshin’s superior physical strength that overpowered the fading Mexican as the contest progressed. Nasukawa, 27, aimed at the midsection of “El Gall” from the outset, which seemed effective and successful since Estrada, 27, became visibly weakened with his absorption of many body shots. The fourth saw Estrada retaliate with fast combinations to take a point (on all of the judges’ tallies).
But Nasukawa’s solid lefts occasionally had him reeling to the ropes. Tenshin accelerated his attack from the seventh round on, and Estrada finally decided to surrender on the stool. It was a significant triumph for Tenshin’s career.
Prior to the stoppage after the ninth, the tallies were as follows: Daniel van de Wiele 88-83, Kevin Scott 89-82, Jun-Bae-Lim 87-84—all in favor of the rising star Tenshin. The referee was Michael Griffin.
Promoter: Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions.
TV: Amazon Prime in Japan, DAZN abroad.
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