An open training session was held on the 15th for champion Takuma Inoue (Ohashi), who is set to make his second defence of the WBC world bantamweight title at ‘Prime Video Boxing 16’ (27 September, Toyota Arena Tokyo). Inoue will face challenger Tenshin Nasukawa (Teiken), whom he also faced in the title decider last November.
高い集中力とキレを感じさせたチャンピオン井上拓真
Speaking to the media at Ohashi Gym in Yokohama, Inoue said, ‘It’s no different from the first fight—I’ll just do what I have to do. I expect my opponent to come at me with a lot of determination, so I’ll simply make sure to beat him soundly,’ revealing a hint of confidence in his words.
In their bout last November, Inoue handed Nasukawa his first defeat by a narrow points decision, whilst also claiming the vacant WBC title. Facing Tenshin, whose desire for revenge is growing, Inoue repeatedly used the phrase ‘turn the tables’, stating: ‘I want to make it clear that it won’t be easily reversed—the wall that is Takuma Inoue is a formidable one,’ and ‘I’ll turn the tables on him in a way that makes it clear he can’t win, no matter how many times we fight.’
After asserting that he had a wider range of techniques at his disposal, he outlined his strategy for the fight, stating, “Depending on how the fight goes, I’d like to aim for a knockout, but first and foremost, I want a comprehensive victory.” He added, as if talking to himself, “Ultimately, I believe it will come down to mental strength, so I want to be clearly superior in that regard as well.”
Chairman Hideyuki Ohashi, who was also present at the press conference, expressed his expectations and confidence in Takuma, saying, “Takuma has been training at camp and sparring as usual. I believe he will fight as he always does and come out on top.” His father, trainer Shingo Inoue, acknowledged Takuma’s recent growth and expressed his hopes for the match, saying, “I want him to be able to draw on his ‘repertoire’ moment by moment and showcase a variety of performances.”
Although this rematch is billed as ‘the final one’, Takuma continued to make powerful remarks right to the end, saying, ‘This is the last one. Won’t (Tenshin) lose to me and then move to another organisation? I want to make it so he can’t even ask for one more fight.’
The bout will be streamed live on Prime Video. On the day, the main event will be the Inoue–Nasukawa rematch, alongside Tomoya Tsuboi (Teiken) v Ricardo Marajica (South Africa) for the WBC Super-Flyweight title, Ryosuke Nishida (Rokushima) v Sam Goodman (Australia) for the IBF Super-Bantamweight interim title, and Ryusei Matsumoto (Teiken) v Russell Acosta (Mexico) for the WBO Minimumweight interim title, bringing the total to four title bouts.
