Tenshin Nasukawa, stopped by Mayweather in 2018, challenges Takuma Inoue for world title

Floyd Mayweather knocked Tenshin Nasukawa down three times inside a round in 2018. On Sunday the Japanese fighter challenges Takuma Inoue for the WBC bantamweight title in Tokyo.

Tenshin Nasukawa was 20 when he shared a ring with Floyd Mayweather in Saitama on 31 December 2018. Mayweather, then 41, knocked the Japanese kickboxer down three times in the opening round before Nasukawa's corner threw in the towel at 2:19, Sky Sports reported. The RIZIN exhibition was built around the mismatch, and it looked like one.

Nearly eight years on, Nasukawa is a world title challenger in his own right. On Sunday he meets Takuma Inoue for the WBC bantamweight title at the Toyota Arena in Tokyo, live on DAZN on Sunday morning UK time. It is a rematch: Inoue outpointed him in November 2025 to hand Nasukawa the first defeat of his professional boxing career, and Nasukawa earned a second chance by stopping Juan Francisco Estrada in a WBC eliminator.

The Mayweather night has mostly been treated as a curiosity from his kickboxing years rather than a mark on his boxing record. A second defeat to Inoue would be harder to wave away. Beating the champion in Tokyo would complete the journey from the fighter Mayweather overwhelmed to a world champion.

Every card this weekend, with UK times and channels: On TV this weekend.