TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Takuma Inoue beat his fellow Japanese Tenshin Nasukawa by unanimous decision to secure the WBC bantamweight title on Sunday, dishing out the first defeat of the former kickboxing star's boxing career after eight bouts.
Inoue, the younger brother of undisputed super bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue, reclaimed a world title in the division after losing the WBA belt to Seiya Tsutsumi by unanimous decision in October last year.
The top-ranked, world-title-bout debutant Nasukawa made a good start using his sharp left in the first two rounds, but second-ranked Inoue's plethora of punches as well as his stamina gave him the upper hand from the middle rounds at Toyota Arena Tokyo.
"Thank you. I'm back," the 29-year-old said after improving to 21 wins, five by knockout, and two defeats. "I'm relieved. The word sums it all up. It's a big joy that I was able to beat Tenshin, more than the fact I got a belt back."
"I was able to work like crazy because I was facing Tenshin," Inoue added.
Two and a half years into his boxing career, the 27-year-old Nasukawa came up short for the first time as the southpaw dropped to 7-1 with two KOs.
"Although it didn't pay off, I have no regrets about what I've been doing," he said. "This is the result of giving everything I have. I'm happy to have competed in a fight like this."
