Suzuki stops Japanese ranked Arioka
0
4
Having been really impressed by Masahiro Suzuki (3-0, 2) [鈴木雅弘] on his debut, when he stopped Antonio Siesmundo, we have really tried to follow his career as closely as possible. It was with great excitement that we previewed his his bout with Japanese ranked Lightweight Kosuke Arioka (9-4-1, 8) [有岡 康輔] as the first in our "Hidden Gems" series, and that we also covered Suzuki in our "Introducing" series.
Today fans at Korakuen Hall saw and Arioka battle, in what turned out to be a genuinely thrilling contest, that showed how exciting Suzuki can be and just how quickly the World Sports Boxing gym can fast track him.
Thge first was a step up on paper for Suzuki, against a hard hitting domestic opponent and over 8 rounds. Those 8 rounds however were never going to be needed with the style of fight the two men engaged in. It was clear neither man was interested in winning a decision, and both wanted to finish this off as quickly as they could.
After just 40 seconds Arioka was on the canvas, from a brilliant counter right hand from Suzuki. Arioka got up and began to try and take the play away from Suzuki, pressing on the inside but took heavy fire in return, with Suzuki landing some incredibly clean shots. To his credit Arioka had belief in his power, and seemed to believe that, sooner or later, he was going to get to Suzuki.
After making his way into round 2 Arioka managed to get inside and work the body of Suzuki, and then find some room for his short left hook up top, catching Suzuki with some solid clean shots. The work from Arioka was good, but came at a risk and a left hand to the body from Suzuki dropped Arioka for the 10 count.
With this win Suzuki will likely be rewarded with a Japanese ranking. After the bout Suzuki admitted that Arioka was strong and that he was left hazy himself, but was happy to have won and it seems obvious that his team will look to push him to total contention sooner rather than later.