Kickboxer-turned Tenshin Nasukawa of Teiken Boxing Gym showed a well-modulated boxing as he had a public training at the Tokyo-based gym on July 4 in preparation for his nontitle fight with the World Boxing Association’s fourth-ranked Jonathan Rodriguez of the United States on July 20 at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena.

  The 25-year-old Nasukawa went two rounds of sparring with the World Boxing Organization’s third-ranked bantamweight Christian Medina of Mexico, who dropped a 12-round decision to Ryosuke Nishida of Muto Boxing Gym last August for a preliminary fight for the International Boxing Federation bantamweight title fight, and showed high level of boxing thanks to Medina’s ability.

  The upcoming fight will be Nasukawa’s first fight since stopping Luis Robles of Mexico last January in his third professional bout after becoming a professional boxer in April last year.

  His trainer Takahiro Ao said, ‘’We have been training boxing in the middle distance. We cannot make a tactical mistake there depending upon his opponent’s level.’’

  Nasukawa echoed Ao by saying, ‘’I think I have improved my punching power while keeping my distance from my opponent,’’ adding, ‘’It was thanks chiefly to my sparring partner Medina since I have been engaging myself in sparring with such a top-notch boxer.’’

 Nasukawa continued, ‘’I would like to stand my ground this time around. I cannot knockout my opponent if I try to attempt that from the beginning. Timing is everything.’’

  Nasukawa, the WBA’s seventh-ranked bantamweight, has three wins, including one knockout, whereas the 25-year-old Rodriguez has a 17-2-1 win-loss-draw tally with seven KOs.