[Full disclosure] Tenshin Nasukawa’s confession: “Please continue to take good care of the ″foreign body″ of the boxing world!

He’s coming along nicely.

Thud!　Thud!”

The sound of a low, heavy crash echoes throughout the gym, as if a motorcycle had hit the ground. Tenshin Nasukawa, 26, an undefeated prodigy in his career, was punching as heavy as lead under the tutelage of Akihiko Honda, president of Teiken Boxing Gym, which has produced many famous fighters.

He won a fierce battle with former world champion Jason Moloney (34) in February of this year to become the No. 1 ranked bantamweight in the WBC. He is currently in the midst of making adjustments in preparation for his world preliminaries on June 8, when he will be fighting for his long-cherished world title. On this day, he entered the gym in the afternoon, stretching carefully and working up a light sweat through shadow boxing. Then, as mentioned at the beginning of the session, he practiced his right hook with Chairman Honda.

He told me, “Minimize your motions before punching.”

Be aware of your footwork.

The coach’s detailed instructions flew by. Three of the current bantamweight champions of the four organizations are southpaws, and the remaining one is ambidextrous. The remaining one is ambidextrous. Nasukawa is therefore said to be trying to master a “secret strategy” to counter left-handedness.

Finally, Nasukawa sparred with a fellow senior southpaw for four 3-minute rounds, and said, “Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

Nasukawa shouted, “Thank you very much! Nasukawa smiled with satisfaction, as if he had gotten a good response. He was not going home immediately after that, but talked with his coach and seniors for nearly 30 minutes, asking for feedback on his new “weapon,” his right hook.

I want to say something to Friday!”

On this day, the team practiced hard for two hours. When the reporter who covered the training up close tried to leave, he went to …….

He said, “Wait a minute. I have one thing to say to Friday.”

Nasukawa stopped him and said, “I have one thing to say to Friday. The strong-looking manager took him to a nearby café. The first thing Nasukawa said was something unexpected.

There is something I’ve been wanting to say for the past six months. That is …… If you were going to fry me about my love affair, why didn’t you take a cooler picture of me!”

–e……?

Also, please take pictures of me doing something interesting, like standing on my head and doing muscle training, for example, instead of just running or something normal!”

FRIDAY reported a “training date” between Nasukawa and a younger blonde dancer in its October 4 issue last year. In the article, Nasukawa was seen riding a bicycle and watching Nasukawa run, but she was not pleased with the photo.

I’m not angry at all that I was photographed,” Nasukawa said. It’s true that we are dating, isn’t it? I’m prepared for it as long as I’m on the stage. I hope we can have a long relationship, both publicly and privately, as we did this time.

–By the way, ……, how are things going with your girlfriend after that?

I am not sure if I am going to be able to do that. It’s like martial arts: you can’t be too infighting. You can’t be too defensive either. You need a proper sense of distance, don’t you?　That’s what we’re trying to find out right now.

–So you are good at getting in between fights, but you are not good at getting in between fights in love?

I can dodge punches in a …… match, but I get hit by punches in love. Everything is a life experience, and there is always a partner. I think it is important to respect each other’s intentions.

In addition to boxing, he is involved in a wide range of other activities, including the radio show “Tenshin Nasukawa’s Kan Kimo Radio” (TBS Radio) starting in April. In the midst of all this, the distance between the two may be changing.

Dreaming more than the unification of four organizations

April is a milestone month for Nasukawa.’ It has been two full years this month since he switched to boxing in 2011. He has continued to make rapid progress, and has grown to the point where he is now a title contender.

Of course, I have the title in mind, but the first thing I have to do is to fight in June,” he said. I have already finished a training camp for physical training, such as running, and now I am in the stage of increasing sparring. My next opponent is a southpaw, so I have a lot to work on.

One of them is how to use my right arm, which I trained for today. I am trying to figure out how to use my right arm in a way that my opponent will not like and how to make the most of my left arm, which is also my dominant arm.

Facing an unknown opponent, he is trying to learn new tactics using his right arm as a starting point.

When I can do one new thing, I can combine it with my existing options to create a more versatile boxing style. That way, you can embarrass your opponent. The match is decided by that zero-tenths of a second of hesitation.

It is a game of deception, or how not to be recognized by your opponent. In that sense, it may be similar to harikomi (laughs).

In the interview, I was impressed by the way he spoke openly and without concealment. For example, in the previous fight against Moloney, there were some who were dissatisfied with the 3-0 decision in favor of Nasukawa. He brushed that off, saying, “I don’t mind at all; I don’t have time to listen to the noise on social media.

When we asked Nasukawa about his future goals, he looked the press straight in the eye and said, “Four champions in the same weight class.

He looked the reporter straight in the eye and said, “Don’t you agree that there are four champions in the same division?　I am fine with one champion. But more than that, I want to continue to be a presence that makes people think, ‘This guy can do something.

I want to be a “foreigner” in the world of boxing, always challenging new things, rather than just getting along with others. In Japan today, there are many people with mental illnesses. If I can give hope to such people by showing them how I am going forward with what I want to do, there is nothing that would make me happier.

The smile Nasukawa showed as he left the venue was overflowing with determination to realize his goals. Nasukawa will continue to be undefeated.

From the May 9, 16 and 23, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY