New champions crowned at Korakuen Hall!
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Earlier today at Korakuen Hall Japanese fight fans has an excellent double header thanks to the Ohashi Gym.
The first of the two major bouts on the card was an OPBF Bantamweight title fight, as defending champion Kazuki Nakajima (10-1-1, 8) [中嶋一輝] faced off with former champion Keita Kurihara (16-6, 14) [栗原慶太] in what looked like a thrilling match up on paper.
Going in to this one, we, and plenty of others, anticipated a potential shoot out between two heavy handed guys who likely believed their power would be the difference maker.
In the opening round Nakajima looked to use his more polished skills and southpaw stance to his advantage. It worked well, and he seemed to get respect form Kurihara through the opening round. In round 2 however the challenger began to find his groove, and pressed, getting closer to Nakajima and finding the room for the occasional left hook. In round three Kurihara's power showed what it could do as he backed Nakajima on the ropes and landed a brutal right hand that dropped Nakajima. To his credit Nakajima beat the count and looked to continue the fight but was dropped again, from another right hand.
After the bout Kurihara spoke about landing the left hook in round 2, and how it played a factor in the finish, forcing Nakajima to keep an eye on his left hand left the door open to landing the heavy rights that closed the show.
The second of the major bouts saw Andy Hiraoka (18-0, 13) [平岡アンディ] extend his unbeaten run and claim the Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific titles at 140lbs, as he stopped Jin Sasaki (11-1, 10) [佐々木尽] in 11 rounds. The bout was highly anticipated, despite Sasaki missing weight yesterday, but turned out to be rather one sided with Sasaki struggling to ever get into the fight.
The early going saw Hiraoka's jab proving to be a brilliant tool, neutralising the power and style that Sasaki wanted. To his credit Sasaki pressed, and proved he was there to fight, but struggled to close the distance and struggled to get close enough to sustained any sort of an attack. After 5 rounds the judges all had the bout in favour of Hiraoka, with two scores of 49-46 and one having it 48-47, giving Sasaki more credit than he deserved.
By round 6 Sasaki was starting to slow down, his pressure less intense his output less notable and his speed slowing. That left Hiraoka in even more control and in round 7 he landed a right hook followed by a left hand for the first knockdown of the fight. Later that same round Sasaki was put down for a second time and he was in survival mode for the rest of the round.
Sasaki tried to will his way back into the fight in round 8, but it wasn't enough as Hiraoka used his speed, movement and reach well to land body shots on his dangerous, but faded, foe. He let Sasaki use his energy trying to turn the bout around, but it wasn't enough and in the 11th round Sasaki was dropped for the third time, with an uppercut. This timet the referee decided enough was enough and stopped the bout, giving Hiraoka the TKO win.
At the time of the stoppage Hiraoka was up 99-89 on two of the cards, and 98-90 on the other with round 11 having not been scored.
Other bouts on the card saw a successful debut for former amateur standout Kaiyu Toyoshima (1-0) [豊嶋 海優], who took a 6 round decision win over Shohei Horii (3-7-2, 2) [堀井 翔平], and a victory for 42 year old veteran Ribo Takahata (17-9-1, 7) [高畑 里望], who stopped Katsunori Endo (7-4-1, 4) [遠藤 勝則] in the 6th round of a scheduled 8 rounder.
The first of the two major bouts on the card was an OPBF Bantamweight title fight, as defending champion Kazuki Nakajima (10-1-1, 8) [中嶋一輝] faced off with former champion Keita Kurihara (16-6, 14) [栗原慶太] in what looked like a thrilling match up on paper.
Going in to this one, we, and plenty of others, anticipated a potential shoot out between two heavy handed guys who likely believed their power would be the difference maker.
In the opening round Nakajima looked to use his more polished skills and southpaw stance to his advantage. It worked well, and he seemed to get respect form Kurihara through the opening round. In round 2 however the challenger began to find his groove, and pressed, getting closer to Nakajima and finding the room for the occasional left hook. In round three Kurihara's power showed what it could do as he backed Nakajima on the ropes and landed a brutal right hand that dropped Nakajima. To his credit Nakajima beat the count and looked to continue the fight but was dropped again, from another right hand.
After the bout Kurihara spoke about landing the left hook in round 2, and how it played a factor in the finish, forcing Nakajima to keep an eye on his left hand left the door open to landing the heavy rights that closed the show.
The second of the major bouts saw Andy Hiraoka (18-0, 13) [平岡アンディ] extend his unbeaten run and claim the Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific titles at 140lbs, as he stopped Jin Sasaki (11-1, 10) [佐々木尽] in 11 rounds. The bout was highly anticipated, despite Sasaki missing weight yesterday, but turned out to be rather one sided with Sasaki struggling to ever get into the fight.
The early going saw Hiraoka's jab proving to be a brilliant tool, neutralising the power and style that Sasaki wanted. To his credit Sasaki pressed, and proved he was there to fight, but struggled to close the distance and struggled to get close enough to sustained any sort of an attack. After 5 rounds the judges all had the bout in favour of Hiraoka, with two scores of 49-46 and one having it 48-47, giving Sasaki more credit than he deserved.
By round 6 Sasaki was starting to slow down, his pressure less intense his output less notable and his speed slowing. That left Hiraoka in even more control and in round 7 he landed a right hook followed by a left hand for the first knockdown of the fight. Later that same round Sasaki was put down for a second time and he was in survival mode for the rest of the round.
Sasaki tried to will his way back into the fight in round 8, but it wasn't enough as Hiraoka used his speed, movement and reach well to land body shots on his dangerous, but faded, foe. He let Sasaki use his energy trying to turn the bout around, but it wasn't enough and in the 11th round Sasaki was dropped for the third time, with an uppercut. This timet the referee decided enough was enough and stopped the bout, giving Hiraoka the TKO win.
At the time of the stoppage Hiraoka was up 99-89 on two of the cards, and 98-90 on the other with round 11 having not been scored.
Other bouts on the card saw a successful debut for former amateur standout Kaiyu Toyoshima (1-0) [豊嶋 海優], who took a 6 round decision win over Shohei Horii (3-7-2, 2) [堀井 翔平], and a victory for 42 year old veteran Ribo Takahata (17-9-1, 7) [高畑 里望], who stopped Katsunori Endo (7-4-1, 4) [遠藤 勝則] in the 6th round of a scheduled 8 rounder.