Inoue vs Nasukawa II: The Rematch for WBC Bantamweight Title

Takuma Inoue and Tenshin Nasukawa are set to reopen old wounds in Tokyo this Sunday, Sept. 27, as they meet again at Toyota Arena Tokyo with the WBC bantamweight title on the line and a nation’s eyes fixed on them.

The first fight settled nothing emotionally, only the scorecards. This one is about closure.

Inoue–Nasukawa II: Unfinished Business

Last November, Takuma Inoue (22-2, 5 KOs) walked into a ring with a phenomenon. Tenshin Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KOs) arrived carrying the aura of a kickboxing icon testing himself in boxing’s unforgiving world. He left with something he had never known: a professional defeat.

Inoue claimed the then-vacant WBC bantamweight belt that night, grinding out a hard decision over a brave but still-learning Nasukawa. It was a technical, tense fight, with Inoue’s experience and composure edging the flash and ambition of a crossover star still adapting to the subtleties of 12-round championship boxing.

Since then, both men have moved quickly, and decisively.

Inoue, younger brother of pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue, has not treated the belt as a souvenir. He defended it against Kazuto Ioka, a seasoned multi-division champion, and walked away still wearing green and gold. That win confirmed what many suspected: this is no understudy riding the family name. Takuma is his own champion.

Nasukawa, meanwhile, refused to be defined by a single loss. He went straight back into the fire, taking on former two-division titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada in a WBC eliminator in April. He didn’t just win. He stopped him. That performance didn’t just earn him another shot at Inoue’s title; it announced that his transition from kickboxing prodigy to serious boxing contender is no gimmick.

Now they meet again, same city, higher stakes.

The Stage and the Stakes

Sunday’s show at Toyota Arena Tokyo is built around this rematch, but it’s more than a one-fight attraction. The event starts at 3:30 a.m. ET, with ring walks for Inoue–Nasukawa II expected around 7 a.m. ET, and it will play out in front of a global audience.

Fans in the United States can watch the full card live on DAZN. In Japan, the broadcast belongs to Prime Video. Different platforms, same expectation: high drama from the opening bell to the last scorecard.

The betting markets have made their call. Inoue enters as a clear favorite, hovering around -260 with U.S. sportsbooks to retain his WBC bantamweight crown. Nasukawa sits at roughly +200, the underdog again, but a far more dangerous one than he was in their first meeting. The odds say the champion repeats. The rematch narrative says: not so fast.

A Card Loaded with Consequences

Beneath the main event, the undercard carries real weight for the future of multiple divisions.

Former IBF bantamweight champion Ryosuke Nishida (11-1, 2 KOs) faces Sam Goodman (22-1, 8 KOs) for the IBF interim super bantamweight title in a fight that could reshape the queue behind Naoya Inoue at 122 pounds. The winner doesn’t just pick up a belt; he positions himself as a legitimate candidate for a crack at the undisputed champion.

Goodman brings volume and consistency. Nishida brings pedigree and the experience of having already worn a world title. Whoever emerges will have a compelling case to step into the most dangerous assignment in the division.

The card doesn’t stop there.

Tomoya Tsuboi (3-0, 2 KOs), still in the infancy of his professional career, gets thrown straight into the deep end against Ricardo Malajika (17-2, 12 KOs) for the vacant WBC super flyweight title. It’s a bold piece of matchmaking: an unbeaten prospect with just three fights against a far more seasoned puncher with real knockout power. The reward is enormous. So is the risk.

Then comes a clash of perfect records at strawweight. Ryusei Matsumoto (8-0, 4 KOs) meets Russell Acosta (17-0, 13 KOs) for the WBO interim strawweight title. One of them will leave with a belt and a spotless record intact. The other will go home with his first professional blemish and a harsh lesson in elite-level boxing.

A Night That Shapes Careers

From top to bottom, Sunday’s card in Tokyo is built on jeopardy. Champions defending, contenders gambling, prospects being rushed toward glory or heartbreak.

At the center of it all stand Takuma Inoue and Tenshin Nasukawa, bound again by a belt and a storyline that has outgrown their first encounter. Inoue fights to confirm his place as the division’s anchor. Nasukawa fights to prove that the first loss was a chapter, not the ending.

One man will walk out of Toyota Arena Tokyo with the WBC bantamweight title and a career surging forward.

The other will be left to decide how to climb back from a second, far more painful fall.