As revealed last month by Fernando Barbosa, bantamweight superstar Tenshin Nasukawa will meet two-division titlist Juan Francisco Estrada in a WBC eliminator atop an April 11th tripleheader from Tokyo’s Kokugikan.
Nasukawa (7-1, 2 KO) is coming off a unanimous defeat to reigning champion Takuma Inoue, which came less than three years after his professional boxing debut. He’s eight years younger than “Gallo” Estrada (45-4, 28 KO), whose June tune-up win over Karim Arce Lugo marked his only appearance since losing a shootout to “Bam” Rodriguez 12 months prior.
Should be an excellent fight between a young, supremely gifted work-in-progress and an undersized, aging legend who might still have a little something left in the tank.
In other action, top WBC super flyweight contender Tomoya Tsuboi (3-0, 2 KO) looks to build off his beatdown of Carlos Cuadras against tough veteran Pedro Guevara (43-5-2, 22 KO). Tsuboi will have been a pro for just 13 months when he meets Guevara, whose only defeats prior to his run-in with “Bam” came via split or majority decision to divisional standouts.
An intriguing opener pits former light flyweight titlist Kyosuke Takami (10-1, 8 KO) against former flyweight champ Angel Ayala Lardizabal (18-1, 8 KO). The 23-year-old Takami, seen as one of Japan’s next-gen standard-bearers, dropped a shock decision to Rene Santiago last year that prompted a move up to 112. Ayala, meanwhile, is coming off a stoppage loss to Takami countryman Masamichi Yabuki that cost him the IBF belt.
