Takeru has returned to the scene of his greatest defeat. The kickboxer was at a baseball match at the Tokyo Dome last month and got to throw out the first pitch.
Takeru was wearing a Yomiuri Giants shirt and saw his team beaten 11-4 by Hiroshima in their NFP match. It looks like the K-1 star could have had a career as a pitcher if he hadn’t taken up kickboxing:
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Centre stage
The last time Takeru was in the Tokyo Dome he took centre stage. It is not often a kickboxing card can sell out an entire baseball stadium but that is exactly what he and Tenshin Nasukawa managed to do.
It was a historic moment for the sport but an evening to forget for Takeru who was dropped in the opening round and never really recovered. Afterwards he looked absolutely devastated, the 31 year old had the look of a man who knew he had let the greatest opportunity of his life slip through his fingers.
But Takeru also earned the biggest payday of his career for that defeat to Tenshin. Since then he seems to have been enjoying life and has travelled all over Thailand to train at various Muay Thai camps.
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Medical procedures
Last week Takeru had surgery on his hand or finger. It is not the first time he has had issues, he also pulled out of a fight in 2019 after undergoing a medical procedure on his hand.
The kickboxing star has a knee operation booked for next week. Having earned a career high payday by fighting Tenshin he appears to be fixing all his long term injury issues before attempting a comeback.
Tenshin has made it clear he will never compete in kickboxing again. He is set to embark upon a career as a professional boxer and will be hoping for more success than he had when Rizin put him against Floyd Mayweather in a bizarre mismatch.
Takeru will probably go back to fighting for K-1 and he is clearly the kickboxing promotion’s most marketable star. The biggest fight of his life might be behind him but the 31 year old is already looking towards the future and the next stage of his career.
