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Tenshin Nasukawa
Nasukawa had the best performance of his career in Tokyo with his one-sided win over Juan Francisco Estrada.
There’s no question that the 36-year-old Estrada has seen better days, he’s clearly declined, he’s a little small at 118 lbs, but he is still a pretty good pro boxer. Not a great one, but a pretty good one. You saw little flashes of it. But Nasukawa was too much for the 2026 version of Estrada.
Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KO) wasn’t just bigger, but he was faster, used his length, landed
some good body shots, and was simply by a significant margin the better man in the ring. Tenshin was better in that fight, clearly, than he was in his loss to Takuma Inoue last year. The former kickboxing star and champion has continued to evolve and get better as a pro boxer. The loss didn’t deter him, it seems to have given him a further spark. This is a guy who wants to be great, wants to be a world champion, and there’s so much to like about him.
Right now, a rematch with Takuma would be waiting for Nasukawa, as the win over Estrada was a WBC eliminator. But Takuma has a fight with veteran Kazuto Ioka on May 2, and that’s not a gimme, though I think I do favor the steady, consistent Takuma over the aging and smaller Ioka, who has quietly been one of the great fighters of his generation.
If Tenshin gets the rematch with Takuma Inoue, I think he’s got a better shot at the win this time. Not saying I’d make him the favorite on paper, but he’s got a real chance to even the score, because I frankly only expect him to be a little better again in that fight, as that would match the way he’s operated to date.
Jose Calderon
The 22-year-old Calderon (15-3, 6 KO) went over to Japan, took the “0” from Katsuma Akitsugi, and may have booked himself another return to that country, which has a vibrant scene at bantamweight. Mexico’s “Mr. Bonez” had gone over last November and was competitive with Riku Masuda for f0ur-and-a-half rounds, before the bout ended in a technical decision, which Masuda edged.
Calderon’s win on a noteworthy undercard is a nice boost for him. It wasn’t one that makes him an overnight star or contender, but he’s in a much better standing now than he was before that fight.
◄ Holding Steady ►
Richard Riakporhe
It wasn’t pretty, but the 36-year-old Riakporhe (20-1, 16 KO) is now the British heavyweight champion. Realistically, that’s probably his ceiling, other than the European title, perhaps. He’s a good puncher but a little limited, and at his age he’s not likely to get any better than he is.
Still, there could be plenty of fights out there. The winner of the Tony Yoka vs Lawrence Okolie fight on April 25 might be appealing. Murat Gassiev has the WBA’s secondary (or “regular”) fake world title and looks very beatable at heavyweight, though also fun to watch. Fellow undercard winner Justis Huni could be in play, as could 41-year-old Albanian curiosity Nelson Hysa, who eventually has to fight somebody credible if he wants to be more than a curiosity.
If Riakporhe decides to defend the Lonsdale belt, there’s always David Adeleye, Johnny Fisher, Solomon Dacres — that level of guy. Veterans like Hughie Fury or Dave Allen. He could be lined up to face Moses Itauma if that’s something Itauma would want to tick off on a checklist. We know Dillian Whyte is angling for a comeback. He’ll have options.
Justis Huni
Huni improved to 13-1 (7 KO) with a solid majority decision win over Frazer Clarke. The 27-yearold Aussie has a nice skill set that should provide him with plenty of fight dates for many years, but he does look like someone who will be stuck a little below true world level. He can box, but he does look a bit “chinny,” and he doesn’t have big power to keep more aggressive, heavier-punching heavyweights from just wading in eventually, which is tough to hold off over a 12-round distance. But he’s carving out a spot for himself in the division.
Tomoya Tsuboi
Basically didn’t get to fight, as his bout with Pedro Guevara ended in a no-contest in the second round, following a hard clash of heads that left Guevara unable to continue. Tsuboi will hopefully be able to get back out quickly, but it may take a little longer than entirely necessary, because the 30-year-old is only a few fights in but he’s trying to take legitimate steps, quickly, toward a world title, which means you have to sign someone up who wants an actual training camp first. Israel Gonzalez (31-5-2, 12 KO) might be a decent shout, and it would be someone still in their prime years, as opposed to Guevara or Carlos Cuadras.
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Tyson Fury
It’s only by a little bit, but look, Fury (35-2-1, 24 KO) won handily, as he should have. But that definitely looked like an aging Tyson Fury. He was better than he was against Francis Ngannou in his last victory, but I think we all know Fury just did not take that fight seriously, and he stressed this week that he did take Makhmudov seriously. He appeared to; he shook some rust, got 12 rounds in, got active, and now he wants the big fight with Anthony Joshua.
If he doesn’t get Joshua, who knows? It could be a while before we see him again. Or he could just fight Usyk again by the end of the year. Or maybe he’ll have his sixth retirement, and then return when a new season of his Netflix “reality” show launches, like this fight.
I did not come out of that fight thinking Fury is clearly still the sport’s second-best heavyweight, as I did after both of his losses to Usyk, which I thought were terrific fights that spoke well of the skills of both men. I came out of this one thinking some of these younger heavy hitters might be a problem for this version of Tyson Fury. And can Tyson really do better than this? That’s what remains to be seen.
Fury’s stock, in a money sense, remains very strong, and I wouldn’t say he’s any worse than the fourth-best heavyweight in boxing right now, and he might still be No. 2. But even if it’s only by a small amount, I do think his stock dropped, and part of that is that he and Turki Alalshikh both came off a little ridiculous trying to pressure Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn into “accepting a fight” before terms had really been discussed. Though maybe it was all just a pro wrestling-style drama, and it is ready to go. In which case it would be very strange to not announce it live on Netflix in front of the biggest global audience possible.
Conor Benn
Conor Benn is an odd duck. If you really go over his career, there’s just not a lot there. He’s a pretty good fighter, but what are his best wins? The Eubank rematch, and the loss to Chris Jr the first time aroudn was a great fight, and those were more about the last names than either of them having ever proven to be genuinely top-level fighters.
I believe Conor Benn has a real fighter spirit, the soul of an upper-mid-tier Action Fighter. If he had been born Conor Perkins but became a boxer anyway, I think he’s the sort of guy who would have had about a 31-9 career record, made some money, had some great fights along the way, and been pieced up a few times at world level. All of that supposes Conor Perkins, who would not have been as carefully managed as Conor Benn. “The Perk” would have been booked into fights for his action sensibilities, not for the ability to generate headlines because of a legacy.
But Benn (25-1, 14 KO) wasn’t great against a clearly hobbled, badly faded, too-small Regis Prograis, who announced his retirement after it was over and basically said he didn’t really want to be there.
The focus is on getting Benn back to 147 lbs and possibly into the world title mix. He’s talked trash with Ryan Garcia, who has he WBC belt, and Shakur Stevenson, who has won titles in four weight classes and might be willing to do 147 against Benn, too. Devin Haney, Rolly Romero, and Lewis Crocker would all be in play, too, in theory. All of them have strengths and weaknesses. Well, we’ve get to see real weaknesses from Shakur, other than “can be very dull.”
Arslanbek Makhmudov
He was able to turn beating Dave Allen — Dave Allen, mind you — into a main event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against one of the biggest names of a generation. And then it was normal Makhmudov. He’s not a world-level fighter. Nice guy, tough guy, gives an honest effort, but extremely limited, and that’s just how it is. He’s basically a less visually interesting version of Nikolai Valuev, there’s not really much game planning beyond “big,” which is fair because he can’t really do a whole lot.
If you’ve seen three rounds of what Makhmudov can do, you’ve seen what Makhmudov can do. His ability to win a fight depends on the level of the opponent. I think he lost some standing, but also not really. He just shouldn’t have really had the “standing” he’d been awarded by virtue of being matched with Fury in the first place.
▼▼ Way Down ▼▼
Juan Francisco Estrada
Estrada (45-5, 28 KO) may well consider retirement after that loss to Nasukawa. That’s two out of three fights in a 22-month span where a younger fighter has stopped him. Estrada had never been stopped before.
He’s 36. He deserves a Hall of Fame slot. He was a great fighter at his best. If Bam Rodriguez leaves super flyweight and Estrada can still capably make that weight, maybe he goes after another title chase there. Maybe he takes some time, does another fight in Mexico, and rides into the sunset.
I’m a huge, huge fan of “El Gallo” Estrada. And the end is close if it’s not here. Whenever he hangs up the gloves, boxing fans should salute and thank him for his tremendous career.
Katsuma Akitsugi
Like Emma Dolan last week, Akitsugi now has to try to rebound. I think the going may be tougher for him. Akitsugi — who was born in Japan but lives in California — made his debut on Japanese soul and was upset as the A-side. At 14-1 (4 KO), I’d seen him fight some on undercards and on ProBox. Never came away thinking he had huge upside, but I’ve been wrong before, will be again.
He’s a solid fighter. But the lack of power hurts, the gas tank let him down a little, and he’s 28 years old. He’ll want to get back to work, shake it off, and try to rebound quick. A rematch wouldn’t even be out of the question, it was a competitive fight. It’s up to him what comes next.
