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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a featherweight kickboxing rules bout between Hiroya Kawabe (ranked 24729 p4p, 4714 weight class) and Yushi Sakura (ranked 527 p4p, 417 weight class). Yushi Sakura will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.
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| 168 cm
24
147
1 - 3 - 0 |
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180 cm
23
152
4 - 3 - 0 |
Decent elbows
Good chin
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Good kicks
Solid chin
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Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hiroya Kawabe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yushi Sakura!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Hirohito Nitta and Shirou Masuda.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kawabe clinches.
Sakura lands with a short shot to the head.
Kawabe is trying to push Sakura away but Sakura has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Kawabe.
Kawabe breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sakura takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Kawabe throws out a loose jab but Sakura uses good head movement to avoid it.
A combination from Kawabe does no damage.
Sakura steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Kawabe.
Sakura keeps the fight on the outside.
Sakura is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Kawabe with a body shot.
Sakura has taken the fight to the clinch.
Sakura lands a hook to the side of the head.
Kawabe lands a hook to the side of the head.
Kawabe breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sakura moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sakura avoids the body shot from Kawabe.
Sakura throws a big counter head kick but Kawabe avoids it with no problem.
Kawabe moves to clinch but Sakura breaks away
and Sakura counters with a nice body shot.
That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Kawabe.
Sakura tries to clinch up but Kawabe circles away and keeps his distance.
Kawabe throws a nice outside leg kick.
Sakura gets a clinch.
Sakura lands with a left to the head.
Kawabe is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Sakura is keeping busy.
Kawabe blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Sakura breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Sakura unleashes a big counter combination but Kawabe bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Sakura moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sakura swats him away and circles back towards the center.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Kawabe.
Kawabe tries to clinch but Sakura is having none of it.
Kawabe cracks Sakura with an open hand slap.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kawabe tries to clinch but Sakura is having none of it.
Sakura darts in and clinches Kawabe up against the ropes.
Kawabe manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Kawabe.
Nice elbow from Kawabe.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Sakura.
Sakura working aggressively here.
Sakura swings away with an uppercut that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
A close round but Yushi Sakura will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.
Kawabe moves into the clinch successfully.
Sakura tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Kawabe unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Kawabe blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Kawabe.
Sakura breaks from the clinch.
Sakura throws a head kick that misses
and Kawabe counters with a nice body shot.
Sakura drives through and clinches with Kawabe against the ropes.
Kawabe blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Yushi Sakura seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Kawabe tries a body shot but Sakura blocks it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sakura lands with a left to the head.
Kawabe tries to break free but Sakura pushes him back against the ropes.
Kawabe tries a body shot but Sakura blocks it.
Kawabe pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sakura rushes Kawabe and presses him up against the ropes.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawabe trying to control the position but instead, Sakura has worked for underhooks and has pushed Kawabe into the ropes.
Kawabe blocking some punches.
Sakura fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Kawabe looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Sakura has a couple of punches blocked by Kawabe.
Kawabe lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Sakura lands a nice uppercut.
Kawabe blocks a punch to the side of the head.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Sakura creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Kawabe is looking to break free of the clinch but Sakura has double underhooks.
Sakura swings wildly with an uppercut but Kawabe uses good head movement to avoid it.
Kawabe using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Sakura has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Sakura avoiding damage as Kawabe throws knees to the body.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakura scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Kawabe wants to break free but Sakura has control.
Sakura has a couple of punches blocked by Kawabe.
Sakura's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Hiroya Kawabe is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Kawabe tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Sakura manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Sakura moves out of range as Kawabe throws a body kick.
Kawabe avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kawabe gets a clinch.
Kawabe has Sakura pressed against the ropes, preventing Sakura from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Sakura lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Kawabe or not.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kawabe on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Kawabe breaks the clinch.
Kawabe scores with a head kick.
Sakura swats away the attempt to clinch by Kawabe.
Sakura appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.
A close second round but Yushi Sakura will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!
Sakura has managed to clinch.
Knees to the body from Kawabe.
Kawabe wants to stall.
Sakura has Kawabe pressed against the ropes, preventing Kawabe from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Sakura misses with a hook from the clinch.
Sakura prevents Kawabe from breaking the clinch.
Kawabe is trying to force a seperation but Sakura has the dominant position.
Kawabe escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sakura moves into the clinch.
Sakura breaks the clinch.
Hiroya Kawabe is winning the standup battle so far.
Kawabe pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Kawabe tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawabe rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sakura moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sakura rushes Kawabe and presses him up against the ropes.
Kawabe blocks an uppercut.
A short left from Sakura.
Kawabe blocks an uppercut.
Sakura escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kawabe swats away the attempt to clinch by Sakura.
Kawabe misses with a head kick.
Kawabe throws a head kick that misses
letting Sakura counter with a right hand.
Kawabe throws a sloppy head kick and Sakura moves out of range easily.
Sakura counters with a body kick.
Kawabe tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sakura swats him away and circles back towards the center.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kawabe chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Hiroya Kawabe seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sakura closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Sakura breaks from the clinch.
A head kick misses from Kawabe.
A punch combination from Kawabe misses.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sakura clinches.
Sakura has a couple of punches blocked by Kawabe.
Sakura keeps control of Kawabe as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Sakura lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Sakura softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Sakura misses with a short punch on the inside.
Sakura escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hiroya Kawabe has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Yushi Sakura is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Sakura moves into range and clinches up with Kawabe.
And that's the end of the fight!
Yushi Sakura comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Sakura winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 27:30
In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yushi Sakura!
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
54% |
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