A crossroads bout ordered by the WBC will, surprisingly, come to fruition.
BoxingScene has learned that Tenshin Nasukawa and Juan Francisco Estrada are due to meet in a WBC 118lbs title elimination bout. Once finalized, the clash is expected to headline an April 11 show in Tokyo.
The bout was ordered during the sanctioning body’s annual convention last November in Thailand. The actual call for the fight didn’t necessarily mean that it would see the light of day, as past conventions have resulted in a minimal number of ordered contests making their way to the fight schedule.
However, Nasukawa and Estrada appear eager to move forward with the two-way dangerous assignment, given where they are at in their respective careers.
Nasukawa, 7-1 (2 KOs), is coming off the first defeat in any sanctioned combat sports bout across three disciplines – boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts. He was ambitiously moved but fell well short to Takuma Inoue in their WBC 118lbs title fight last November 24 in Tokyo.
The setback hardly discouraged the former kickboxing legend-turned-boxing contender, who is eager to remain at the sport’s highest level.
Mexico’s Estrada, 45-4 (28 KOs), will represent by far Nasukawa’s most experienced foe to date.
The former two-division champion fought just once in 2025, a 10-round, unanimous decision over countryman Karim Arce last June 14 in his Hermosillo hometown.
It marked the first ring appearance for Estrada since his June 2024 knockout defeat to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, which ended his stay as lineal, RING and WBC junior bantamweight champion.
Estrada previously held the WBA and WBO titles at flyweight. He was also a two-tour titleholder at 115lbs, though his lineal championship reign went uninterrupted from April 2019 through his above mentioned defeat to Rodriguez.
The showdown with Nasukawa will mark Estrada’s third career trip outside of North America. His previous two trips abroad took place in Macau, beginning with his first major title win when he defeated Brian Viloria to win the WBA and WBO 112lbs titles in April 2013.
BoxingScene has learned that the show featuring this bout will also potentially house at least one major title fight. More details are forthcoming on the planned event.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.
