PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Andrei Sobral (ranked 2102 p4p, 3937 weight class) and Yoshi Takano (ranked 109 p4p, 141 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Sobral
vs
Takano

200 cm
23
265
12 - 11 - 0

192 cm
44
255
31 - 31 - 0

World class boxer
KO power

Excellent MT
Powerful

Silverguard Outfitters
Furnace Performance Products

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 11 - 0, fighting out of London, Andrei Sobral!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 31 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Yoshi Takano!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yuuki Gou and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sobral moves into range and clinches up with Takano.
Sobral blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Takano is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sobral is defending well for now.

Sobral breaks the clinch.
Sobral walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Takano checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Sobral lands with an uppercut that bounces Takano off the ropes and back into range.

It looks like Yoshi Takano has been cut.
Takano blocks a head kick by Sobral.

Sobral rushes Takano and presses him up against the ropes.
Sobral looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Sobral stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Takano has a couple of punches blocked by Sobral.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sobral stalling.

Sobral pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sobral has been working on his boxing with his coaches at London MMA Club in the buildup to the fight.

Sobral closes the distance and clinches.
Sobral working aggressively here.
Sobral on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Takano escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Sobral.
Yoshi Takano seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sobral throws a sloppy head kick and Takano moves out of range easily.
Takano dodges the punch combination from Sobral.
Sobral defending well as Takano loads up on a big left hand.
Takano throws a sloppy head kick and Sobral moves out of range easily.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Sobral blocking some punches.
Takano putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Sobral in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Takano lands a body shot.
Takano working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Takano tries to land knees in the clinch but Sobral avoids the damage to the body.
Takano fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Takano lands a body shot.
Sobral is breathing heavily.
Knees in the clinch landing for Takano.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takano tries a body shot but Sobral blocks it.
We've been informed that Takano has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
Takano pushes Sobral back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Takano misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Takano tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Sobral is trying to force a seperation but Takano has the dominant position.
Takano lands a hook that snaps the head of Sobral backwards.
Takano landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Sobral blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
A knee to the head by Takano.
Takano lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the ropes.
Takano lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Takano pushes Sobral back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Sobral on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Sobral avoiding damage as Takano throws knees to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Yoshi Takano dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Yoshi Takano's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Takano tries to bum rush Sobral with a series of wild strikes but Sobral uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Sobral clinches.
Sobral leaning his opponent against the ropes.
Takano misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nice body punch from Takano.
Takano lands a body shot in the clinch.
Sobral tries to break the clinch but Takano is controlling the position.
Takano misses with a punch to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Takano has a couple of punches blocked by Sobral.

Takano breaks the clinch.
Takano connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Takano is looking to chop away at Sobral's legs.
Sobral takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Takano misses with a kick to the body.
Andrei Sobral is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takano avoids the head kick by Sobral.
Takano throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Sobral tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Takano tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Sobral is able to avoid easily.
Sobral swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
A head kick misses from Sobral.
Sobral blocks a head kick by Takano.
Takano throws a shot to the body.
Sobral pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Sobral has taken the fight to the clinch.
Takano tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sobral's elbow.
Takano lands a nice knee to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Takano misses with some punches.
Takano misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sobral.
Takano lands a body shot.
Takano misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Takano has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A left hand lands to the body for Takano.
Sobral can't break the clinch.
Sobral avoiding damage as Takano throws knees to the body.
Sobral trying to stall but Takano improves his position.
Sobral misses with a knee strike.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sobral is trying to push Takano away but Takano has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Takano pushes Sobral back against the ropes and unloads with a body punch.
Takano keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sobral's efforts to push away.
Sobral on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Takano tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sobral avoids it.
Takano landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Takano tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sobral avoids it.
Sobral landing knees to the head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Yoshi Takano showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Yoshi Takano's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Takano misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sobral.

Sobral forces Takano back against the ropes and clinches.
Takano unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Takano working Sobral over with knees to the body.
Takano lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the ropes.
Sobral wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Sobral tries to land knees in the clinch but Takano avoids the damage to the body.

Sobral breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Takano lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Sobral misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Takano clinches up against the ropes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Takano lands a left hand.
Yoshi Takano seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Sobral is trying to force a seperation but Takano has the dominant position.
Takano tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sobral avoids it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Takano putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Sobral in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Takano tries to land knees in the clinch but Sobral avoids the damage to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sobral wants to get back to striking at distance but Takano won't allow it.
Takano utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Takano trying to land knees to the body.
Sobral is looking to break free of the clinch but Takano has double underhooks.
Takano tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sobral avoids it.
Takano prevents Sobral from breaking the clinch.
Takano struggles to land a body shot inside as Sobral controls his hands.
Takano misses with a knee to the head.
Sobral tries to circle away but Takano has him pinned against the ropes.
Takano trying to land knees to the body.
Sobral with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Takano misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sobral.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takano is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sobral is defending well for now.
Takano presses Sobral against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Sobral blocking some punches.
Takano with a knee to the head.
Takano throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
A right hand to the body from Takano.
Takano missing with knees to the body.
Takano keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sobral's efforts to push away.
A head punch on the inside from Takano fails to land.

Takano's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Takano throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Andrei Sobral has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Yoshi Takano is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Takano wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

Sobral gets in close and instigates a clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yoshi Takano comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Takano has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yoshi Takano!
Yoshi Takano really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Neon Zombie logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.