Inoue vs Nasukawa 2 Set for September 27 in Tokyo

It's official: Takuma Inoue and Tenshin Nasukawa will settle unfinished business on September 27 at Tokyo's Toyota Arena. Inoue (22-2, 5 KO) defends his WBC bantamweight title in a rematch of last November's clash, when he weathered an awkward opening and pulled away for a unanimous-decision win.

That result carried real weight. Beating Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KO) snapped a 53-fight unbeaten run the former kickboxing star had built across multiple combat sports before turning to the pro boxing ranks. It was the first time anyone had put a mark in his loss column, and it came against a fighter carrying only five knockouts in 22 wins — Inoue does his damage with volume and ring craft, not one-punch power.

The Road Back to the Rematch

Both men stayed busy in the interim, and both did it against decorated names. Inoue and Nasukawa each fought once this past spring, with the pair getting past Hall of Fame-caliber veterans Kazuto Ioka and Juan Francisco Estrada respectively.

That Estrada win is the reason this rematch is worth a second look. Nasukawa looked sharp against a genuine great, and the obvious question is whether that was Tenshin leveling up or Estrada simply fading at the tail end of his run. If it's the former, Inoue could be walking into a far tougher night than the first meeting suggested.

Filling Out the Undercard

The undercard hasn't been locked in yet, but the pieces are lining up. Earlier reporting had super featherweight prospect Tomoya Tsuboi (3-0, 2 KO) facing South Africa's Ricardo Malajika (17-2, 12 KO) for a vacant WBC belt in September, which would slot neatly onto this bill.

There's also a chance Siyakholwa Kuse makes the first defense of his WBC minimumweight title on the card. Kuse (10-3-1, 4 KO) lifted that strap from Melvin Jerusalem in a May rematch, and a bout against unbeaten Ryusei Matsumoto (8-0, 4 KO) has been floated. Jerusalem, for his part, dropped to 25-4 (12 KO) in that second meeting and now sits at No. 3 in the division.

A Seigo Yuri Akui–David Jimenez matchup has been mentioned in the rumor mill too, though nothing solid has surfaced there yet. Whatever fills out the supporting slots, the main event is the draw — and the sequel arrives quickly enough that the answers from the first fight are still fresh.