Jason Moloney believes Tenshin Nasukawa versus Takuma Inoue is a 50-50 fight.
Nasukawa, 7-0 (2 KOs), and Inoue, 20-2 (5 KOs), will fight for the vacant WBC bantamweight title on Monday at the Toyota Arena in Tokyo. The belt was vacated by Junto Nakatani, who moved up to junior featherweight.
Moloney, 27-4 (19 KOs), knows Tokyo’s Nasukawa well after fighting him in February. Moloney, a former WBO bantamweight titleholder, is an intrigued observer.
“It is an interesting fight,” Moloney said. “I just think Tenshin is just a little bit craftier. He is quite fast and has a few tricks up his sleeve.”
Moloney believes the fight comes down to Inoue’s ability to deal with the 27-year-old Nasukawa’s speed. He believes Inoue, a 29-year-old from Yokohama, Japan, will have to set traps to be successful.
“It all comes down to if Takuma can time him,” Moloney said. “You are probably not going to beat Tenshin in the battle of speed. [But maybe] you can time him and catch him between his shots. I felt like I hurt Tenshin quite a few times through [our] fight.”
Moloney, who nearly dropped Nasukawa with a counterpunch, knows of what he speaks.
“It takes experience, it takes boxing intelligence, and it takes balls,” Moloney said of timing Nasukawa. “You have to find the right time to punch and choose the right shots.”
Moloney returns on December 6 against Herlan Gomez at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia. Moloney believes that if he can put a win streak together, he will be back in the mix, noting that he feels better now than he has at any other point in his career. When asked to pick a Nasukawa-Inoue winner, he couldn’t.
“I think it is a true 50-50,” Moloney said. “I am interested in facing the winner.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
