When Juan Francisco Estrada remained in his corner after nine rounds against Tenshin Nasukawa, he was not only clearly – and publicly – behind on the scorecards. He was also hurt and struggling.
According to boxing reporter Salvador “Chava” Rodriguez, Estrada “fought at least three rounds against Tenshin Nasukawa with two fractured ribs. He was unable to continue after nine rounds due to difficulty breathing.”
Nasukawa-Estrada was an elimination bout for the WBC bantamweight belt currently held by Takuma Inoue. They headlined on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
For Nasukawa, this was his first fight back after losing a unanimous decision to Inoue in November in a bout with the then-vacant WBC belt on the line.
Estrada, meanwhile, had been deposed as the lineal champion at 115lbs after getting put down for the count from a perfect body shot landed by Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in their June 2024 match. Estrada spent nearly a year away before returning last June, widely outpointing the 21-2-2 Karim Arce Lugo.
In the opening rounds against Nasukawa, Estrada was not only noticeably smaller but also slower. Estrada had a hard time closing the distance and was getting countered when he reached forward on this improved version of Nasukawa. But Estrada seemed to figure things out in the fourth round, finding his rhythm and scoring when he saw openings.
With WBC’s open scoring in effect, the tallies after four rounds were 39-37 for Nasukawa and 38-38 twice.
In the sixth round, Estrada took two painful blows simultaneously. His head collided with Nasukawa’s at the same time that Nasukawa landed a beautiful left to the body. The impacts sent Estrada down and rolling around on the canvas.
It’s not certain whether that was the punch that damaged Estrada’s ribs. But Nasukawa continued to perform well and pulled away on the scorecards. In the seventh round, Nasukawa landed a right uppercut that forced Estrada to take a few steps back, and soon a left cross pushed Estrada back again.
Through eight rounds, the judges had it 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75 for Nasukawa. That meant Estrada – if he didn’t stop Nasukawa – would not only need to sweep the final four rounds to prevent defeat, but he’d also have to score a knockdown in order to avoid a draw.
After the ninth round ended, so did the fight.
Nasukawa, a 27-year-old from Tokyo, improves to 8-1 (3 KOs). Estrada, a 35-year-old from Mexico, fell to 45-5 (28 KOs).
For Estrada, who’s been a pro since 2008, it may be time to consider whether to continue with his career, and if he can compete at bantamweight at his age and after all of the wear and tear.
“El Gallo” has a Hall of Fame resume as a former two-division champion who faced and beat three of the best at 115lbs of this past decade.
Estrada’s first four losses came against fighters who either had world titles at the time or would go on to win them. And his first three defeats – to Juan Carlos Sanchez Jnr in 2011, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in 2012, and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2018 – were later avenged.
Estrada knocked Sanchez out in their rematch seven months later. He topped Sor Rungvisai by unanimous decision in 2019 to win the lineal junior bantamweight championship. And he met Chocolatito twice more, taking a hotly debated decision win in 2021 and a majority decision in 2022.
Against the rest of the modern “Four Kings,” Estrada is 1-1 vs. Sor Rungvisai, 2-1 vs. Gonzalez and 2-0 vs. Carlos Cuadras, or 5-2 overall. Estrada was also previously a unified titleholder at flyweight from 2013-2015.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
