PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight kickboxing rules bout between Akira Azuma (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cole Taggart (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Azuma
vs
Taggart

172 cm
25
164 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

169 cm
24
160 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

World class boxer
Cardio machine

World class MT
Good gas tank

Affordable Quality + Reliable Laundry
Milwaukee's Best 160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Akira Azuma!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Cole Taggart!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Patrick Alders and Daniel Blasius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Azuma throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Azuma on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Taggart. Taggart obviously looking to wear him down.
Taggart misses with a low kick.
Azuma takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Taggart misses with a wild body shot.
Cole Taggart seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Taggart tries to clinch up.
Azuma misses with a right hand
and Taggart makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Taggart is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Taggart ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Azuma moves away.
Taggart throws a leg kick but Azuma moved away.
Taggart connects with an inside leg kick.
Taggart scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

It looks like Akira Azuma has been cut.
Taggart on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Taggart drives through and clinches with Azuma against the ropes.
Azuma on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A body shot lands from Azuma.
Taggart swings wildly with an uppercut but Azuma uses good head movement to avoid it.
Azuma wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Taggart misses with the head strike.
Taggart tries to throw a body punch but Azuma avoids it by throwing Taggart back against the ropes.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Taggart.
Taggart misses with a short punch on the inside.
Taggart misses with a punch on the inside.
Azuma blocks an uppercut.
We've been informed that Taggart 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.
Taggart scores a nice knee to the body.
Taggart lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Taggart just leaning against Azuma, taking a breather.
Azuma misses with a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Azuma fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Azuma blocking some punches.
Azuma working hard to break the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Taggart swings wildly with an uppercut but Azuma uses good head movement to avoid it.
Azuma lands a left hand.
Taggart lands with a short shot to the head.
Taggart lands a nice uppercut.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Azuma.
Azuma will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Taggart up against the ropes.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Taggart.
Taggart misses with a punch to the body.
Taggart working aggressively here.
Taggart tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Azuma misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Azuma blocks an elbow strike from Taggart.
Azuma swings wildly with an uppercut but Taggart uses good head movement to avoid it.
Taggart tries to land a knee to the head but Azuma blocks with his arms.
Azuma dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the ropes.
A shot in the inside from Taggart.
Azuma lands with a right to the head.
Taggart tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Taggart creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Taggart lands with a left to the head.
Azuma prevents a body shot from Taggart.
Taggart throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Azumas head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Taggart.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Azuma avoiding damage as Taggart throws knees to the body.
Taggart has a couple of punches blocked by Azuma.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taggart fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Azuma cracks Taggart with a nice body shot.
Taggart prevents Azuma from breaking the clinch.
Azuma takes an elbow to the temple.
Taggart throws a head punch that misses.
Azuma misses with a short punch on the inside.
A short left from Taggart.
Taggart softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Taggart throws a punch but it's blocked by Azuma.
Azuma can't find room to land a body shot as Taggart controls the action.
Taggart swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Azuma can't find room to land a body shot as Taggart controls the action.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Taggart.
Taggart misses with a punch to the body.
Taggart working aggressively here.
Taggart scores with a shoulder strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cole Taggart dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Akira Azuma's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Azuma takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Azuma swinging wildly here.
Taggart fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Azuma has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Taggart misses with a looping right.
Taggart misses with a body kick.
Akira Azuma is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A jab from Azuma does it's job there.
Taggart cracks Azuma with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
A punch combination from Azuma misses.
Taggart buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Azuma gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Azuma is rocked!
Taggart lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Oh Azuma is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Cole Taggart seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Taggart throws a hook but Azuma blocks it.
Azuma seems to have got his legs back now.
A swing and a miss from Taggart.
Azuma misses with a wild combination.
Taggart dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Taggart fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Azuma has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Taggart fakes the leg kick and cracks Azuma in the body.
Taggart lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Azuma lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Taggart circles away quickly and effectively.
Taggart moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Taggart loads up on a big right hand but Azuma slips the punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jab by Taggart.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Taggart with a jab.
Good shot there by Azuma.
Taggart misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Taggart tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Taggart ducks under a wild hook from Azuma.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Taggart works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Taggart scores with a sloppy right hand. Azuma should have avoided that one.
Azuma gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Taggart counters with a good low kick that Azuma was not able to check.
Taggart tries to bum rush Azuma with a series of wild strikes but Azuma uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Taggart throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Taggart connects with a single shot there.
Azuma is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Azuma throws a lazy body kick
and Taggart cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Azuma misses with a low kick as Taggart jumps back.
Taggart fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Taggart fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Taggart has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A big left from Taggart misses.
Azuma waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Taggart.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Taggart - that will leave a mark!
Nice cross by Taggart.
Taggart throws a nice outside leg kick.
Good standup being displayed there by Taggart as he connects with a hook.

Akira Azuma's cut is getting worse.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Taggart wants to clinch but Azuma slips to the side
and Azuma counters with a straight right hand.
A cross from Taggart lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Taggart catches Azuma napping and connects with a fantastic 3 punch combination that sends Azuma crashing to the mat! He's still conscious but he's all over the place - can he beat the count?!? 4,5,6,7,8...9...10! He didn't make it back to his feet! Taggart raises both arms skywards and takes in the roar from the crowd!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:09 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Cole Taggart!
Cole Taggart gave a mention to Milwaukee's Best Nutrition in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).