Floyd Mayweather may have dealt with him in one round, but kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa is on a super-hot streak.
It took three months for Mayweather’s first RIZIN foe to recover from a humiliating and hurtful first career loss.
Floyd Mayweather
Mayweather was paid $9.9 million for less than three minutes of work. The legend toyed with the young Japanese star before ending his misery after three knockdowns.
Indeed easy for the ‘Money’ man and a memorable New Year’s Eve 2018.
Accusations of a fixed fight were way wide of the mark. Mayweather was too good, too big, and had far too much experience for Tenshin.
Tenshin Nasukawa
But what happened to Nasukawa? He dusted himself down before heading out on a knockout rampage.
Participating in five bouts from March 2019 to the first Floyd Mayweather anniversary, Nasukawa battered four opponents early on.
A third-round KO at the RISE World Series First Round against Federico Roma secured a 33rd career victory in the kickboxing arena.
Next up was Fritz Aldin Biagtan in April. Again, Tenshin clinched the stoppage. Fast forward to June, and Tenshin took Martin Blanco out with a knee to the body.
Next up, just one month later, it was the turn of Serkim PK Saenchai to be KO’d.
In September of that year, Tenshin appeared in the Final Round of the RISE World Series. He duly won the accolade but had to go the distance with ShiroMatsumoto. Nasukawa won unanimously, though.
On New Year’s Eve of 2019, it was back to those painful endings as Tenshin blasted out Rui Ebata in round one.
Matching the Floyd Mayweather feat, Tenshin scored three knockdowns himself. Three more knockdowns came after seven months out of action as Tenshin finished Yuki Kasahara.
Either side of solid points decision triumphs in September and December of 2020, Nasukawa recorded three more canvas visits for his opponent.
Kouzi got taken out with a flying knee.
Winning streak
Tenshin has since scored two verdicts in each of the last two years to extend his winning streak to fourteen. He’s shown there is life after Floyd Mayweather.
Overall, Tenshin is undoubtedly back on track and now boasts an unbelievable 44-0 record with 30 KOs.
Would he fancy a return with Mayweather? – Probably, yes, for the cold-hard cash. But would he have a chance of winning? – Not even in one if they fought ten times.
Stick to kickboxing and excel, Tenshin Nasukawa. Leave the boxing to the professionals.
Mayweather is back in RIZIN next month to see if he can repeat his feat of four years ago.
WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
