To most lovers of combat as a sport or a means of entertainment, the name Tenshin Nasukawa might not ring a bell. Notwithstanding, he is a Japanese kickboxer who is famous for fighting under the Rizin banner (mixed martial arts organization in Japan which was formed by Nobuyuki Sakakibara in 2015) in the Bantamweight division. He first came into prominence after recording a victory by knockout in the fight against former Muay Thai champion, Wanchalong Pk Senchaigym. He would later repeat the same win via knockout in the fight against, Amnat Ruenroeng. For this victories and many other feats he has achieved in his young career, the Combat Press ranked him as the 8th best Bantamweight fighter in the world as at 2018.
Tenshin Nasukawa Bio
Tenshin Nasukawa was born in Chiba Prefecture, Japan on the 18th of August 1998. His journey to a career as a kickboxer started at a young age of 5 when he began taking karate lessons due to the fact that his father wanted him to grow up a disciplined man. On getting to elementary school, he began his training in kickboxing and within a short time, he had become proficient with over 100 bouts.
This, in turn, brought Tenshin offers at the age of twelve from fight promoters such as Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions Inc. When he was 14 years old in his junior year as a high school student, he received promotion offer from Teiken Promotions, who wanted to sign him to a huge contract which included a monetary bonus of more than $100,000. However, due to his love for kickboxing, the deal was turned down by Tenshin.
Spotting his massive potential as a fighter, Yūichi Kasai, one of the Gym trainers at Teiken, famous for his work which produced world champions such as Toshiaki Nishioka and Takashi Miura, became his part-time boxing coach. By the time Tenshin was eighteen years of age and turned professional, he had already gotten a 99-5 amateur record in kickboxing.
Still a high school student, Tenshin Nasukawa defeated Channel 7 champion and multiple Bangkok Lumpinee, Wanchalong PK Senchaigym. He achieved this with a spinning back kick which ended up knocking Wanchalong out. Interestingly, this was Tenshin’s very first Muay Thai fight and win. After this impressive feat, the Japanese MMA Promotion organization, “Rizin” signed him.
Boxing Records
In his short time as a Rizin fighter, Tenshin Nasukawa has managed to achieve laudable milestones in his career. As a karate fighter which he started at the age of five, he earned himself a black belt in Kyokushin Kaikan. Before turning eighteen years of age, he had competed in more than a 100 kickboxing amateur bouts. As a professional kickboxer, he holds an impressive record of 27 fights, 27 wins (20 wins by knockouts) and zero loss. In the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), he has a total of 4 fights, 4 wins and zero loss (2 knockouts, 2 submissions, 1 decision). More so, in terms of his amateur career, Tenshin has fought a total of 111 bouts. Here he recorded 105 wins(62 by knockouts), 1 draw and 5 losses.
In his career as a fighter, most of his fights have mostly taken place in Tokyo, Japan. By the year 2017, he was the champion of the Rizin kickboxing flyweight tournament as well as the champion of the RISE kickboxing bantamweight division. On the 1st of November 2018, he was ranked as the number 8 bantamweight fighter in the world by the Combat Press. The same month, it was announced that Tenshin Nasukawa would be facing Floyd Mayweather on the 31st of December.
Family – Parents, Siblings
Family is everything when it comes to Tenshin Nasukawa. In almost all his fights which are usually held in Tokyo, he normally has his family around to support him and this he has described as a morale booster. His father, Hiroyuki Nasukawa, who happens to be one of his trainers is credited for the career path Tenshin choose. Hiroyuki would normally be spotted on a gym mat keeping a close watch at his son whenever he is training or doing his warm-ups.
His mum (name unknown) most times would be spotted welcoming guest or visitors who come to Tenshin’s training gym to watch him work-out. Tenshin a lso has a younger sister named, Riri Nasukawa who is also a ferocious fighter like him. So far, she is looking to become as popular as her brother in MMA and she has managed to get a 30-3(30 fights, 2 wins, and 3 losses)record as an amateur fighter. Moreso, she won her very first professional fight in 2018.
Personal Life – Girlfriend
Different from what is quite common among professional fighters in Europe and America, entering into a relationship early in a man’s life is not commonplace in Japan especially one who is seeking to become a formidable fighter. It is believed that starting off romantic relationships early in one’s career as a fighter of any category might cause distractions thus most fighters in Japan hold off on it until much later especially when they are ready for marriage. Interestingly, this is also the case with Tenshin Nasukawa as he hasn’t revealed that he is in any romantic relationship with anyone yet.
Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.
