PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight kickboxing rules bout between Benjamin Berkley (ranked 6541 p4p, 4863 weight class) and Sitthichai Fairtex (ranked 243 p4p, 209 weight class). Berkley comes to the ring accompanied by X. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Berkley
vs
Fairtex

168 cm
20
147
4 - 1 - 0

174 cm
18
140
3 - 1 - 0

Excellent MT
KO power

World class MT
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Benjamin Berkley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Sitthichai Fairtex!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yuuki Gou and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Berkley wants to slow Fairtex down by chopping away at his legs.
Fairtex scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Good standup being displayed there by Berkley as he connects with a hook.
Fairtex misses with an uppercut. Berkley saw that one coming.
Berkley fires out a quick counter leg kick but Fairtex just manages to avoid it.
Fairtex just misses with a punch to the body.
Fairtex takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Berkley loads up on a big right hand but Fairtex slips the punch.
Despite the aggression on Fairtex's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
A looping hook to the body misses from Fairtex. Berkley does a little dance to reset his feet.
Fairtex plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Fairtex fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Berkley has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Fairtex throws a looping overhand right but Berkley ducks down to avoid it.
Fairtex throws a body punch but Berkley moves out of range.
Fairtex takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Berkley throws a right hand that Fairtex ducks under and follows up with a left that Fairtex also avoids with ease.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Berkley throws a leg kick but Fairtex sees it coming and moves out of range.
Berkley misses with a low kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Berkley ducks under a wild hook from Fairtex.
Berkley tried to score with a low kick but Fairtex checks it.
Fairtex throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Fairtex has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Fairtex slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Fairtex dips to his left and cracks Berkley with an uppercut!
Nice shot by Fairtex.
Berkley looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Fairtex stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Fairtex scores with a shot to the body.
Fairtex misses with a hook
and Berkley counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Fairtex throws the left hand but Berkley avoids the punch easily.
Berkley misses with a looping left.

Fairtex forces Berkley back against the ropes and clinches.
Fairtex throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Berkley blocks it with crossed arms.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Fairtex looking to slow down the pace here.
Berkley lands a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Fairtex lands with a left to the head.
Berkley misses with an elbow strike.

Berkley manages to break the clinch.
Fairtex fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Berkley looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Berkley tries to land a front kick but Fairtex steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Fairtex misses with a looping right.
Berkley ducks under a wild hook from Fairtex.
A counter left hand to the body from Berkley misses its target.
Berkley misses with a body shot.
Berkley throws a jab but it's blocked by Fairtex.
Fairtex slips a jab from Berkley.
Fairtex misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Berkley.
Fairtex jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Berkley keeps Fairtex at a distance using the push kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Fairtex throws a leg kick which misses Berkley's front leg but catches the back leg as Berkley tries to avoid it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sitthichai Fairtex dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Berkley darts in trying to clinch
and Fairtex counters with a straight right hand.
Fairtex waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Berkley.
Fairtex slips under a jab from Berkley.
Fairtex lands a jab to the nose.
A lazy body kick from Berkley
and Fairtex counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Fairtex misses the jab.
Berkley takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Berkley throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Berkley tries a head kick but it misses.
Berkley shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Fairtex tries to work over Berkley's front leg with a kick but Berkley checks it.
Fairtex uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Berkley has time to react.
Fairtex doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fairtex keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Fairtex throws out a counter right but Berkley avoids it with no problem.
Berkley connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Fairtex uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Berkley swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Fairtex goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Berkley throws a body shot but no joy.
Fairtex misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nice uppercut lands for Fairtex. That snapped Berkley's head back.
Berkley keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Berkley appears to be looking for a big counter.
Nice body punch from Fairtex.
Fairtex slips under a jab from Berkley.
Fairtex scores with a punch to the head.
Berkley lands a nice looking body kick.
Fairtex throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex throws a leg kick but Berkley sees it coming and checks it nicely.
An attempted straight right counter from Berkley misses the target.
Fairtex swings and misses with a hook to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Fairtex throws a hook but Berkley blocks it.
Fairtex misses with a hook. Berkley ducked under it nicely.
Berkley takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Sitthichai Fairtex seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Fairtex just misses with a punch to the body.
Fairtex waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Berkley.
Berkley was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Fairtex looks to throw the jab but Berkley is out of range.
Sitthichai Fairtex seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Fairtex fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
A nice leg kick from Fairtex, right into the meat of the thigh.
Berkley throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Berkley misses with a double jab.

Fairtex darts in and clinches Berkley up against the ropes.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Berkley pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sitthichai Fairtex showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Nice uppercut there from Fairtex.
Fairtex has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Berkley throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Berkley swinging wildly here.
Fairtex throws a shot from downtown. Berkley moves away and avoids it.
Berkley takes a shot right to the bread basket.
A slow jab from Fairtex misses its intended target.
Berkley on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Fairtex sizes up Berkley with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Well,Berkley is on his way to losing a decision here. Can he use his experience to pull something off in the closing minutes?
Fairtex swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Berkley avoids a punch combination nicely.
Berkley lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Fairtex cracks Berkley with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Berkley uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Fairtex.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fairtex avoids the head kick by Berkley.
Berkley swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Fairtex throws a jab when Berkley was well out of range.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Berkley.
Fairtex misses with a low kick.
Berkley throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Fairtex throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Berkley was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Berkley misses with an uppercut.
Fairtex fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Fairtex misses with a head kick.
Fairtex lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Berkley takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
A punch combination from Berkley misses.
Berkley avoids the body shot from Fairtex.
As Fairtex looks to move away, Berkley throws a big counter combo but Fairtex just gets out of the way.
Sitthichai Fairtex is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Fairtex moves out of range of the strikes.
Fairtex catches Berkley with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Berkley uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Fairtex.
Nice shot lands for Fairtex.
Fairtex throws a lazy uppercut
and Berkley counters with a nice uppercut.
Berkley dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Benjamin Berkley has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Berkley staggers Fairtex with a jab and knocks him down with a follow up straight! Fairtex looks in trouble, will he beat the count?! The count has reached 5 and he's only back to 1 knee - it's going to be close! 6,7,8 - he's up! No! He's back down again! 9...10 - he's can't beat the count and Berkley is victorious!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:41 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Benjamin Berkley!
Benjamin Berkley decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.