Iwata, Kenshiro an Tsutsumi crowned new champions! Akui retains!
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Just moments ago we saw the end of a sensation world title quadruple header from the Ariake Arena, thanks to Amazon Prime and Teiken, on a show that had it all, including a genuine FOTY contender.
The show kicked off with a new champion being crowned as the touted Shokichi Iwata (14-1, 11) [岩田翔吉] claimed the previously vacant WBO Light Flyweight title with a brutal knockout against Spanish fighter Jairo Noriega (14-1, 3)
From the off Iwata was on the front foot, with Noriega using the ring and relying on his footwork, movement and hand speed to try and deal with pressure, aggression and stiff jabs of Iwata. Midway through the round things turned around as Noriega began to build his confidence, coming forward more and making the most of his faster hand speed whilst landing some eye-catching shots. The speed of Noriega continued to help him score in round 2 as he began to build some real momentum and was throwing with bad intention to both head and body.
Despite Noriega landing big looking shots it did seem clear that he was lacking power, something that was also evident from his record, and that Iwata could afford to take shots from him to land his own shots. The same couldn’t be said the other way around and that was shown at the end of round 3 when Iwata managed to land a hard uppercut then a glancing shot to send Noriega to the canvas. Noriega beat the count but was unsteady on his feet at the restart and with just seconds of the round left Iwata pressed his opening, looking for the finish. With seconds ticking down he managed to make the most of his opportunity, tagging Noriega with a huge body shot before knocking Noriega out with a brutal left hook that sent him down face first and forced the referee to wave off the action.
The second title fight saw WBA Flyweight champion Seigo Yuri Akui (21-2-1, 11) [阿久井政悟] make his second defense as he took a split decision over in form Thai Thananchai Charunphak (25-2, 15), in what was a great technical bout between two really well matched fighters, who had different styles that gelled really well.
Throughout the fight Akui came forward, pressing the action, looking to land heavy single shots, whilst Thananchai used the ring well, boxed and moved, and tried to fire between Akui’s shots. For the first few rounds this was super technical with the jabs being the key from Akui, along with left hooks up top, and the short sharp combinations on the move from Thananchai, with both landing good body shots. As the rounds went on the bout took a few turns. In the middle Akui began to feint more, cut the ring off, and land the heavier shots, whilst Thananchai seemed to get out worked and fight the wrong fight at times. In the later stages however Thananchai got back to what had been successful for him, sharp combinations, though they never really seemed to have much spite on them, making it hard to feel he’d done enough when Akui’s shots seemed to have more pop.
In the later rounds however Thananchai seemed to realise he had to turn things around and had a huge round 10, as he stood his ground and unloaded to the body, in what was his best round, by far. He seemed to hurt the champion with the shots, but Akui recovered well, and finished the round with some success. It seemed like that could be a major turning point, but in round 11 Akui looked to be back at 100% in a very good round that saw both have moments. What could have been a momentum builder for the challenger really didn’t happen after such a strong 10th and instead it was a competitive round, he may have done enough for it, but didn’t stamp the round like he had in the previous one.
Knowing it was close Akui came out for round 12 with renewed energy, putting his foot on the accelerator and really taking the fight to Thananchai, in one of his best rounds. It was a clear Akui round to end the fight as he landed solid blows with both hands, whilst Thananchai was trying to respond but failed to meet the tempo and tenacity of the champion.
As it turned out the 12th round turned out to be hugely important to the outcome, with the judges turning in scores of 115-113, Akui, 115-113 to Thananchai and 117-111 to Akui. Were it not for the strong finish it would have been a split decision draw, Akui would have kept his title, but it would have been a less than satisfactory conclusion.
Given the performance we’d love to see Thananchai given more top level opportunities and dare say this loss will be a bout that helps him improve, acting as a huge learning experience. Whilst Akui will likely be looking for a homecoming defense next year, before a potential unification later in the year.
The chief support bout saw a new champion being crowned as former unified Light Flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15) [寺地 拳四朗] became a 2-weight world champion, winning the previously vacant WBC Flyweight title with a TKO over former WBC Flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22).
From the offer there seemed to be a clear size difference, with Rosales being the natural Flyweight and Kenshiro only having his second fight at the weight. Despite that the edge in speed and movement was clearly with Kenshiro who quickly found a home for his sharp jab to both head and body. After just over a minute Kenshiro managed to also land an uppercut whilst Rosales looked much slower and struggled to get anything much off early doors, instead trying to get a read on the Japanese fighter. In round 2 Rosales did show more ambition, letting his hands go and warming to the action, this instantly lead to some great back and forth, with Kenshiro really digging to the long torso of Rosales. The speed difference of the two men continued to be a telling factor with Rosales really unable to cope with the speed of Kenshiro either up top or to the body. Despite Kenshiro getting the best of it Rosales did have moments, they were just a lot less frequent than Kenshiro’s.
Kenshiro continued to land at will in round 3, his jab really being the key and opening up the body of the naturally bigger man. After just a minute of the round Kenshiro landed a brutal right hand that seemed to sting Rosales, but the Nicaraguan recovered really well, not long afterwards Kenshiro also landed a great one to the body,a counter right up top later in the round badly wobbled Rosales who was forced to hold when Kenshiro looked to close the show. Despite seeing out the storm it was clear that Kenshiro’s power had carried up to Flyweight and that he could hurt fully fledged, world class, Flyweights. Kenshiro looked to start round 4 with nasty intent, and despite slipping in the corner he was on the front foot throughout the round whilst Rosales tried to work off the ropes and switch southpaw. Given the changes in tactics from Rosales we saw a much quieter round from Kenshiro, who was caught by a left hand late in the round, in what was the most noteworthy moment of the round. When the open scoring kicked in Kenshiro was in a clear lead, with scores of 39-37 and 40-36 twice.
In round 5 we saw Rosales turn back to the orthodox stance, before quickly switching back to southpaw. The changes in stance seemed to force Kenshiro to look for a plan B, rather than relying on his hard jabs and stiff right hands, that had worked so well in the opening rounds. Rosales managed to use his jab well from the southpaw stance, but as the round went on it seemed like Kenshiro was starting to get a read on his man and landed a few good jabs in what was the least interesting round, up to this point. Knowing he was having better success fighting as a southpaw Rosales came out for round 6 in the stance, despite that neutralising Kenshiro he did little offensively himself. Partway through the round Rosales turned back to Orthodox and was tagged against the ropes, then tagged up top, with Kenshiro quickly looking more comfortable facing the Nicaraguan in the orthodox stance. Rosales managed to have moments, including a body shot late on, but it wasn’t enough to win the round as he continued to fall into a hole on the scorecards.
To begin round 7 Rosales came forward, looking like he had a bit of ambition whilst Kenshiro seemed to be slowing, after looking razor sharp early on. The added activity of Rosales meant he was taking risks and he paid with 2 right hand from Kenshiro, before landing one back himself. Late in the round Kenshiro landed a good right hand, that seemed to affect Rosales who went on to the ropes, and dropped his activity in the final moments of the round. Rosales again showed some ambition early in round 8, but a lack of consistency worked against him, as he was unable to keep a solid work rate and was instead being outworked and backed up, with Kenshiro starting to land his right hands at will again. Rosales was starting to be broken down by those right hands, which were alarmingly consistent and busted open the nose of Rosales. The open scoring made it clear that Kenshiro was still in total control, with scores of 78-74 and 79-73, twice.
Knowing he was in a clear lead going into round 9 Kenshiro could have relaxed and relied on the scorecards. Instead he set out with bad intent, landing some solid shots early before. He likely expected Rosales to try and turn things around, though as Rosales came forward Kenshiro slipped in the same corner as he had earlier. Kenshiro managed to tag Rosales hard again later in the round, landing 2 good right hands very late on. Kenshiro also started round 10 fast, whilst blood ran down Rosales’s face, with the bleeding made worse by another hard right from Kenshiro, and a big combination later in the round. Rosales was showing his toughness and trying to fight back, but his work was starting to look more and more sloppy as he started to look desperate, and his defense was unable to stop the hard shots from Kenshiro. In fact as the round went on it started to seem like Rosales was being used as target practice by the “Amazing Boy”. To begin round 11 Rosales was inspected by the ringside doctor, with the doctor waving the bout off, saving Rosales from any further punishment
Rosales, who was accompanied by stablemate Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, showed his toughness but looked completely out of his depth here. As for Kenshiro, he really announced himself as a top Flyweight, and we suspect he’ll begin 2025 hunting unification bouts, potentially with Akui in what would be a very fun all Japanese world title bout
On the subject of all Japanese world title bouts, that’s exactly what we got in the main event, as we saw WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5) [井上拓真] come up short against a very determined mandatory challenger in the form of Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8) [堤聖也], who fought like a man possessed.
From the off both men tried to feel each other out, but doing so at lightning speed. After a very short exchange of jabs Tsutsumi looked to get on the inside though was made to pay from a gorgeous uppercut from Inoue. Within a minute both men were finding holes for their jabs with Inoue looking the faster, crisper puncher, whilst Tsutsumi looked the more physical as we saw when he managed to land a solid hook that budged Inoue. A left hook late in the round from Inoue snapped Tsutusmi’s head back but didn’t really discourage the challenger who looked for opens at mid range. Having lost the opening round Tsutsumi looked to up the tempo in round 2 and managed to land a good shot up top though was taking some to land one. It was clear that Tsutusmi believed he had the toughness, stamina, power and physicality to get to Inoue, and was willing to take risks to try and break down the champion. The cleaner shots continued to be from Inoue, but he was being forced to take the odd power shot here and there, and seemed to be getting pushed around when he held on.
Tsutusmi started round 3 with a good right hand as he continued to make life tough for Inoue, who slipped in the same corner that Kenshiro had slipped in, twice. Tsutusmi continued to make life difficult for the champion through the round, with a good body shot, and despite Inoue landed solid jabs, and the odd big right hand, he simply couldn’t get Tsutsumi’s respect, with Tsutusmi getting Inoue on the ropes and going to work to the body. Inoue landed a good right hand, that forced Tsutsumi to back off, but it was a sign that Tsutsumi was starting to get more success, and was looking to take away the speed of Inoue. Tsutusmi also ended the round well with another good body shot as Inoue was in the corner. Tsutusmi managed to land a stiff jab early in round 4 and again he managed to get Inoue on the ropes and dig to the body well. Inoue looked composed and calm, but was being forced into the Tsutsumi’s fight more and more often with Tsutusmi’s growing confidence growing. Inoue’s sharp shots were the cleaner shots, but it was clear the pressure of Tsutsumi was starting to have an effect, with Inoue backed on to the ropes again. The defensive skills of Inoue were on show, as was his excellent counter punching, but he was certainly being forced to take heavy shots at times.
In round 5 Inoue stood his ground more early on, seemingly wanting to try and get Tsutsumi’s respect. It was a risky tactic and one that didn’t seem like a good idea for him as Tsutusmi landed some hard head shots and nasty body shots, looking to take the movement from Inoue. Inoue looked composed, as he always does, but was now clearly being forced into Tsutsumi’s fight, and clearly forced to feel the body shots. As the round went on Tsutusmi’s pressure continued to have success, a huge right up top and a flurry to the body, with Inoue on the ropes being the highlights for him. Tsutsumi began round 6 like he finished round 5, unloading on Inoue with the champion on the ropes, Inoue managed to block some but plenty got through, and a right hand up top seemed to hurt Inoue who ended up on the ropes again, as Tsutusmi once again unloaded on him. The body work from Tsutsumi wasn’t just limited to when he had Inoue on the ropes, doing the same in the middle of the ring, as Inoue began to visibly slow, and he began to take more up top, with his defensive moves not being as slippery as they had been earlier on.
Round 7 began with an exchange in the center of the ring, with Tsutsumi continuing to out land and our work Inoue, who was really struggling to get Tsutsumi’s respect as the challenger walked the champion down and unloaded time and time again. Inoue landed a peach of a right and it barely phased Tsutsumi who went back to the body just seconds later, knowing the body shots were taking a clear toll on the champion, who’s movement and handspeed were clearly slowing. Later in the round Tsutusmi managed to land some bludgeoning shots up top, even the ones that hit the guard seemed like they were taking a toll on Inoue. Straight from the bell to begin round 8 Tsutsumi was all over Inoue who was forced onto the ropes and with Tsutusmi unloading a relentless barrage. Inoue managed to find a space for a counter here and there, and slipped plenty, but he was also taking a lot, and he began to look like a man being broken down mid way through the round a huge right hook from Tsutusmi seemed to hurt Inoue who recovered quickly and had some of his best success late in the round. Interestingly Tsutusmi seemed to slow at the end of round 8, but came out fast again in round 9 as he again caught Inoue with big shots in center ring, and then bullied him in the clinch. Inoue, who was now surely behind, let his hands go more than he had, and that seemed to spur on Tsutsumi who returned to banging the body of Inoue. Inoue, who likes the ring to work with, was repeatedly being forced to work up close, leading to some great exchanges and fantastic back and forth, though it felt like Inoue was going to have to find a second wind.
Round 10 started with the two men trading from the off, Inoue got off second best and Tsutusmi jumped on his man, with Inoue being judged to have been knocked down, with the ropes keeping him up, something Inoue didn’t agree with. After the count we immediately got into another trading sequence up close with Tsutsumi getting the better of things again as he looked to build on the knockdown and take any doubt out of the result. By the final minute both men looked exhausted, but Tsutusmi continued to let his hands go, whilst Inoue was throwing very, very little, with the tempo leaving him seemingly running on empty. The one, potential, break for Inoue was a cut suffered by Tsutsumi, despite the cut he continued to press the action, throwing far more than the champion. The referee stopped the action mid-round to allow the doctor to look at the cut, and the doctor didn’t have any issue before the action resumed and both got back to landing bombs up close, with Tsutsumi getting the better of things once again.
Going into the final round it was clear that Inoue was going to have to dig deep, knowing his title was about to slip away, whilst Tsutsumi had made it clear he had come into this bout not to box, but have a fight, and that was the case from the bell. They were often standing toe-to-toe with Tsutsumi once again getting the better of things, landing a hard right on Inoue, before slipping before he could follow up. Going into the final minute both men were trading, with both giving everything they had. Sadly for Inoue his best couldn’t get Tsutsumi’s respect whilst Tsutsumi was hurting Inoue time and time again with the two unloading to the bell.
After 12 rounds, and it was amazing we’d actually seen 12, we went to the score cards, which give scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110 as we crowned a new champion, and Seiya Tsutsumi earned himself a career defining win, and potentially put himself in the mix for unification bouts in 2025.
The show kicked off with a new champion being crowned as the touted Shokichi Iwata (14-1, 11) [岩田翔吉] claimed the previously vacant WBO Light Flyweight title with a brutal knockout against Spanish fighter Jairo Noriega (14-1, 3)
From the off Iwata was on the front foot, with Noriega using the ring and relying on his footwork, movement and hand speed to try and deal with pressure, aggression and stiff jabs of Iwata. Midway through the round things turned around as Noriega began to build his confidence, coming forward more and making the most of his faster hand speed whilst landing some eye-catching shots. The speed of Noriega continued to help him score in round 2 as he began to build some real momentum and was throwing with bad intention to both head and body.
Despite Noriega landing big looking shots it did seem clear that he was lacking power, something that was also evident from his record, and that Iwata could afford to take shots from him to land his own shots. The same couldn’t be said the other way around and that was shown at the end of round 3 when Iwata managed to land a hard uppercut then a glancing shot to send Noriega to the canvas. Noriega beat the count but was unsteady on his feet at the restart and with just seconds of the round left Iwata pressed his opening, looking for the finish. With seconds ticking down he managed to make the most of his opportunity, tagging Noriega with a huge body shot before knocking Noriega out with a brutal left hook that sent him down face first and forced the referee to wave off the action.
The second title fight saw WBA Flyweight champion Seigo Yuri Akui (21-2-1, 11) [阿久井政悟] make his second defense as he took a split decision over in form Thai Thananchai Charunphak (25-2, 15), in what was a great technical bout between two really well matched fighters, who had different styles that gelled really well.
Throughout the fight Akui came forward, pressing the action, looking to land heavy single shots, whilst Thananchai used the ring well, boxed and moved, and tried to fire between Akui’s shots. For the first few rounds this was super technical with the jabs being the key from Akui, along with left hooks up top, and the short sharp combinations on the move from Thananchai, with both landing good body shots. As the rounds went on the bout took a few turns. In the middle Akui began to feint more, cut the ring off, and land the heavier shots, whilst Thananchai seemed to get out worked and fight the wrong fight at times. In the later stages however Thananchai got back to what had been successful for him, sharp combinations, though they never really seemed to have much spite on them, making it hard to feel he’d done enough when Akui’s shots seemed to have more pop.
In the later rounds however Thananchai seemed to realise he had to turn things around and had a huge round 10, as he stood his ground and unloaded to the body, in what was his best round, by far. He seemed to hurt the champion with the shots, but Akui recovered well, and finished the round with some success. It seemed like that could be a major turning point, but in round 11 Akui looked to be back at 100% in a very good round that saw both have moments. What could have been a momentum builder for the challenger really didn’t happen after such a strong 10th and instead it was a competitive round, he may have done enough for it, but didn’t stamp the round like he had in the previous one.
Knowing it was close Akui came out for round 12 with renewed energy, putting his foot on the accelerator and really taking the fight to Thananchai, in one of his best rounds. It was a clear Akui round to end the fight as he landed solid blows with both hands, whilst Thananchai was trying to respond but failed to meet the tempo and tenacity of the champion.
As it turned out the 12th round turned out to be hugely important to the outcome, with the judges turning in scores of 115-113, Akui, 115-113 to Thananchai and 117-111 to Akui. Were it not for the strong finish it would have been a split decision draw, Akui would have kept his title, but it would have been a less than satisfactory conclusion.
Given the performance we’d love to see Thananchai given more top level opportunities and dare say this loss will be a bout that helps him improve, acting as a huge learning experience. Whilst Akui will likely be looking for a homecoming defense next year, before a potential unification later in the year.
The chief support bout saw a new champion being crowned as former unified Light Flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15) [寺地 拳四朗] became a 2-weight world champion, winning the previously vacant WBC Flyweight title with a TKO over former WBC Flyweight champion Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22).
From the offer there seemed to be a clear size difference, with Rosales being the natural Flyweight and Kenshiro only having his second fight at the weight. Despite that the edge in speed and movement was clearly with Kenshiro who quickly found a home for his sharp jab to both head and body. After just over a minute Kenshiro managed to also land an uppercut whilst Rosales looked much slower and struggled to get anything much off early doors, instead trying to get a read on the Japanese fighter. In round 2 Rosales did show more ambition, letting his hands go and warming to the action, this instantly lead to some great back and forth, with Kenshiro really digging to the long torso of Rosales. The speed difference of the two men continued to be a telling factor with Rosales really unable to cope with the speed of Kenshiro either up top or to the body. Despite Kenshiro getting the best of it Rosales did have moments, they were just a lot less frequent than Kenshiro’s.
Kenshiro continued to land at will in round 3, his jab really being the key and opening up the body of the naturally bigger man. After just a minute of the round Kenshiro landed a brutal right hand that seemed to sting Rosales, but the Nicaraguan recovered really well, not long afterwards Kenshiro also landed a great one to the body,a counter right up top later in the round badly wobbled Rosales who was forced to hold when Kenshiro looked to close the show. Despite seeing out the storm it was clear that Kenshiro’s power had carried up to Flyweight and that he could hurt fully fledged, world class, Flyweights. Kenshiro looked to start round 4 with nasty intent, and despite slipping in the corner he was on the front foot throughout the round whilst Rosales tried to work off the ropes and switch southpaw. Given the changes in tactics from Rosales we saw a much quieter round from Kenshiro, who was caught by a left hand late in the round, in what was the most noteworthy moment of the round. When the open scoring kicked in Kenshiro was in a clear lead, with scores of 39-37 and 40-36 twice.
In round 5 we saw Rosales turn back to the orthodox stance, before quickly switching back to southpaw. The changes in stance seemed to force Kenshiro to look for a plan B, rather than relying on his hard jabs and stiff right hands, that had worked so well in the opening rounds. Rosales managed to use his jab well from the southpaw stance, but as the round went on it seemed like Kenshiro was starting to get a read on his man and landed a few good jabs in what was the least interesting round, up to this point. Knowing he was having better success fighting as a southpaw Rosales came out for round 6 in the stance, despite that neutralising Kenshiro he did little offensively himself. Partway through the round Rosales turned back to Orthodox and was tagged against the ropes, then tagged up top, with Kenshiro quickly looking more comfortable facing the Nicaraguan in the orthodox stance. Rosales managed to have moments, including a body shot late on, but it wasn’t enough to win the round as he continued to fall into a hole on the scorecards.
To begin round 7 Rosales came forward, looking like he had a bit of ambition whilst Kenshiro seemed to be slowing, after looking razor sharp early on. The added activity of Rosales meant he was taking risks and he paid with 2 right hand from Kenshiro, before landing one back himself. Late in the round Kenshiro landed a good right hand, that seemed to affect Rosales who went on to the ropes, and dropped his activity in the final moments of the round. Rosales again showed some ambition early in round 8, but a lack of consistency worked against him, as he was unable to keep a solid work rate and was instead being outworked and backed up, with Kenshiro starting to land his right hands at will again. Rosales was starting to be broken down by those right hands, which were alarmingly consistent and busted open the nose of Rosales. The open scoring made it clear that Kenshiro was still in total control, with scores of 78-74 and 79-73, twice.
Knowing he was in a clear lead going into round 9 Kenshiro could have relaxed and relied on the scorecards. Instead he set out with bad intent, landing some solid shots early before. He likely expected Rosales to try and turn things around, though as Rosales came forward Kenshiro slipped in the same corner as he had earlier. Kenshiro managed to tag Rosales hard again later in the round, landing 2 good right hands very late on. Kenshiro also started round 10 fast, whilst blood ran down Rosales’s face, with the bleeding made worse by another hard right from Kenshiro, and a big combination later in the round. Rosales was showing his toughness and trying to fight back, but his work was starting to look more and more sloppy as he started to look desperate, and his defense was unable to stop the hard shots from Kenshiro. In fact as the round went on it started to seem like Rosales was being used as target practice by the “Amazing Boy”. To begin round 11 Rosales was inspected by the ringside doctor, with the doctor waving the bout off, saving Rosales from any further punishment
Rosales, who was accompanied by stablemate Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, showed his toughness but looked completely out of his depth here. As for Kenshiro, he really announced himself as a top Flyweight, and we suspect he’ll begin 2025 hunting unification bouts, potentially with Akui in what would be a very fun all Japanese world title bout
On the subject of all Japanese world title bouts, that’s exactly what we got in the main event, as we saw WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5) [井上拓真] come up short against a very determined mandatory challenger in the form of Seiya Tsutsumi (12-0-2, 8) [堤聖也], who fought like a man possessed.
From the off both men tried to feel each other out, but doing so at lightning speed. After a very short exchange of jabs Tsutsumi looked to get on the inside though was made to pay from a gorgeous uppercut from Inoue. Within a minute both men were finding holes for their jabs with Inoue looking the faster, crisper puncher, whilst Tsutsumi looked the more physical as we saw when he managed to land a solid hook that budged Inoue. A left hook late in the round from Inoue snapped Tsutusmi’s head back but didn’t really discourage the challenger who looked for opens at mid range. Having lost the opening round Tsutsumi looked to up the tempo in round 2 and managed to land a good shot up top though was taking some to land one. It was clear that Tsutusmi believed he had the toughness, stamina, power and physicality to get to Inoue, and was willing to take risks to try and break down the champion. The cleaner shots continued to be from Inoue, but he was being forced to take the odd power shot here and there, and seemed to be getting pushed around when he held on.
Tsutusmi started round 3 with a good right hand as he continued to make life tough for Inoue, who slipped in the same corner that Kenshiro had slipped in, twice. Tsutusmi continued to make life difficult for the champion through the round, with a good body shot, and despite Inoue landed solid jabs, and the odd big right hand, he simply couldn’t get Tsutsumi’s respect, with Tsutusmi getting Inoue on the ropes and going to work to the body. Inoue landed a good right hand, that forced Tsutsumi to back off, but it was a sign that Tsutsumi was starting to get more success, and was looking to take away the speed of Inoue. Tsutusmi also ended the round well with another good body shot as Inoue was in the corner. Tsutusmi managed to land a stiff jab early in round 4 and again he managed to get Inoue on the ropes and dig to the body well. Inoue looked composed and calm, but was being forced into the Tsutsumi’s fight more and more often with Tsutusmi’s growing confidence growing. Inoue’s sharp shots were the cleaner shots, but it was clear the pressure of Tsutsumi was starting to have an effect, with Inoue backed on to the ropes again. The defensive skills of Inoue were on show, as was his excellent counter punching, but he was certainly being forced to take heavy shots at times.
In round 5 Inoue stood his ground more early on, seemingly wanting to try and get Tsutsumi’s respect. It was a risky tactic and one that didn’t seem like a good idea for him as Tsutusmi landed some hard head shots and nasty body shots, looking to take the movement from Inoue. Inoue looked composed, as he always does, but was now clearly being forced into Tsutsumi’s fight, and clearly forced to feel the body shots. As the round went on Tsutusmi’s pressure continued to have success, a huge right up top and a flurry to the body, with Inoue on the ropes being the highlights for him. Tsutsumi began round 6 like he finished round 5, unloading on Inoue with the champion on the ropes, Inoue managed to block some but plenty got through, and a right hand up top seemed to hurt Inoue who ended up on the ropes again, as Tsutusmi once again unloaded on him. The body work from Tsutsumi wasn’t just limited to when he had Inoue on the ropes, doing the same in the middle of the ring, as Inoue began to visibly slow, and he began to take more up top, with his defensive moves not being as slippery as they had been earlier on.
Round 7 began with an exchange in the center of the ring, with Tsutsumi continuing to out land and our work Inoue, who was really struggling to get Tsutsumi’s respect as the challenger walked the champion down and unloaded time and time again. Inoue landed a peach of a right and it barely phased Tsutsumi who went back to the body just seconds later, knowing the body shots were taking a clear toll on the champion, who’s movement and handspeed were clearly slowing. Later in the round Tsutusmi managed to land some bludgeoning shots up top, even the ones that hit the guard seemed like they were taking a toll on Inoue. Straight from the bell to begin round 8 Tsutsumi was all over Inoue who was forced onto the ropes and with Tsutusmi unloading a relentless barrage. Inoue managed to find a space for a counter here and there, and slipped plenty, but he was also taking a lot, and he began to look like a man being broken down mid way through the round a huge right hook from Tsutusmi seemed to hurt Inoue who recovered quickly and had some of his best success late in the round. Interestingly Tsutusmi seemed to slow at the end of round 8, but came out fast again in round 9 as he again caught Inoue with big shots in center ring, and then bullied him in the clinch. Inoue, who was now surely behind, let his hands go more than he had, and that seemed to spur on Tsutsumi who returned to banging the body of Inoue. Inoue, who likes the ring to work with, was repeatedly being forced to work up close, leading to some great exchanges and fantastic back and forth, though it felt like Inoue was going to have to find a second wind.
Round 10 started with the two men trading from the off, Inoue got off second best and Tsutusmi jumped on his man, with Inoue being judged to have been knocked down, with the ropes keeping him up, something Inoue didn’t agree with. After the count we immediately got into another trading sequence up close with Tsutsumi getting the better of things again as he looked to build on the knockdown and take any doubt out of the result. By the final minute both men looked exhausted, but Tsutusmi continued to let his hands go, whilst Inoue was throwing very, very little, with the tempo leaving him seemingly running on empty. The one, potential, break for Inoue was a cut suffered by Tsutsumi, despite the cut he continued to press the action, throwing far more than the champion. The referee stopped the action mid-round to allow the doctor to look at the cut, and the doctor didn’t have any issue before the action resumed and both got back to landing bombs up close, with Tsutsumi getting the better of things once again.
Going into the final round it was clear that Inoue was going to have to dig deep, knowing his title was about to slip away, whilst Tsutsumi had made it clear he had come into this bout not to box, but have a fight, and that was the case from the bell. They were often standing toe-to-toe with Tsutsumi once again getting the better of things, landing a hard right on Inoue, before slipping before he could follow up. Going into the final minute both men were trading, with both giving everything they had. Sadly for Inoue his best couldn’t get Tsutsumi’s respect whilst Tsutsumi was hurting Inoue time and time again with the two unloading to the bell.
After 12 rounds, and it was amazing we’d actually seen 12, we went to the score cards, which give scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 117-110 as we crowned a new champion, and Seiya Tsutsumi earned himself a career defining win, and potentially put himself in the mix for unification bouts in 2025.