Fast forward 10 months and both will meet in a rematch on Sunday at Toyota Arena in Tokyo.

The hugely popular Nasukawa, who boasts 967,000 followers on X and 1.1 million on Instagram, is rated ninth by The Ring at 118 pounds and is determined to even the score.

"I see defeat as losing to myself. In order to surpass who I was before, I am in desperate determination not to let myself be beaten," Nasukawa (8-1, 3 KOs) told The Ring.

"I consider him as an all-rounded fighter, capable of doing it all, and I believe they [Ring/ undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya and Takuma] are the most dynamic pair of brothers in Japanese boxing right now."

The 28-year-old has identified what went wrong in the first meeting.

"I think the reason for the loss was that I hesitated during the match," he said. "Takuma consistently beat me to the initiative. I am now visualizing ways to initiate the action from me to maneuver the opponent."

Since the first fight, Nasukawa has gained seasoning in beating former two-weight world champion Juan Francisco Estrada by ninth-round stoppage.

"I learned to stick to my style without hesitation," he said. "I became able to handle whatever comes my way and take the initiative in shaping the flow of the match."

Nasukawa, who has trained at Teiken gym, is firm in his assertion that the outcomewill be different this time.

"My will is stronger than before and my fans cheering will push me back to victory," he said.

Inoue (22-2, 5 KOs), who is rated No. 2 by The Ring at bantamweight, worked his way up before he lost his unbeaten record in a WBC title shot against Nordine Oubaali (UD 12).

Although the 30-year-old is often in older brother, Naoya’s shadow, he is talented in his own right. The Japanese fighter picked up the vacant WBA title against Liborio Solis (UD 12) and made two defenses, including a career best, halting former junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas (KO 9).

Inoue lost his title to Seiya Tsutsumi (UD 12) in October 2024 but rebounded to claim the vacant WBC title by beating Nasukawa (UD 12) in November 2025 and bested four-weight world champion Kazuto Ioka (UD 12) on May 2.