Kickboxer-turned Tenshin Nasukawa of Teiken Boxing Gym, who will have his second bout with Mexican bantamweight champion Luis Guzman in an eight-round super bantamweight fight on Sept. 18 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, pledged on Sept. 8 he will have a knockout victory this time.

  The 25-year-old Nasukawa held a public workout at the gym and showed a fine form in his sparring with two Mexican boxers (10^th-ranked World Boxing Council super flyweight Israel Gonzalez and former World Boxing Organization youth super bantamweight kingpin Ricardo Espinoza) with each Mexican going two rounds. Nasukawa displayed crisp movement while landing punches to the head and body.

  After the sparring, Nasukawa, who made his professional debut last April with a lopsided six-round decision over then second-ranked Japanese bantamweight Yuki Yonaha of Shinsei Boxing Gym, said, ‘’Even if I do say so myself, I am completely different from the one at the time of my debut. For example, my footwork, the way I throw punches, etc. I think my fighting style is that of boxing at long last.’’

  Nasukawa, currently ranked 14^th in the Japanese super bantamweight division, has done more than 100 rounds of sparring so far. He said, ‘’I will fight like my regular self but want to earn a KO victory at heart. I want to throw a tantrum, if you will, by unlocking what has been contained inside over the past five months (since his April professional debut).’’

  The opponent of Nasukawa has recently been changed to Guzman from the originally planned Mexican Juan Flores as Flores suffered COVID-19. The 27-year-old Guzman, who cancelled his scheduled title defense on Sept. 1, has a record of 10 wins, including six knockouts, against two losses and is said to be in good condition.

The fight will be part of the event dubbed ‘’Prime Video Presents Live Boxing5,’’ in which World Boxing Organization super flyweight champion Junto Nakatani of M.T Boxing Gym will put his title on the line against sixth-ranked Argi Cortes of Mexico while World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association light flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji of B.M.B. Boxing Gym will defend his titles against the WBC’s top-ranked Hekkie Budler of South Africa.