Revenge for Iimura, Japanese title at 135lbs remains vacant
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Earlier today fight fan at Korakuen Hall, and those tuning in on U-Next, had the chance to see The 32nd DYNAMIC GLOVE on U-NEXT, and it was a compelling show, with two notable title bouts and another pretty noteworthy domestic clash on the under-card.
The under-card bout of note was a genuine upset as former Japanese 140lb champion Homura Fujita (12-3, 10) [藤田裕崇] was stopped by the unbeaten Eikichi Kawamura (6-0-1, 4) [川村英吉], who secured the biggest win of his career. Fujita looked to set the pace and was aggressive through the first two rounds, but Kawamura defended well, looked for counter opportunities and made it clear that whilst he was less offensive than Fujita, he was having success. In round 3 that success really up a level, with a Kawamura uppercut being the start of the end in round 3. Fujita took the uppercut and then began to fall apart as Kawamura jumped on him, unloading with both hands until Fujita stumbled and forced the referee to jump in and wave the bout off.
The first of two title fights saw former Japanese Lightweight champion Shuma Nakazato (15-3-4, 8) [仲里周磨] fight to a draw with Yudai Murakami (6-2-1) [村上雄大], in a bout for the vacant JBC Lightweight title. These two, who had fought back in 2023 when Nakazato took a hard fought win, and in this rematch there was nothing to split them in a tit for tat, back and forth bout fought on a very even keel.
The bout was close from the off, with every round being hard to call. This lead to the open scoring being 48-47 to Murakami after 5 rounds, though there was almost nothing between them, and the cards could have been 48-47 the other without much complaining. Not only was the action being fought evenly, but round by round this was getting better, as both begin to find their rhythm in round 2 and moved through the gears. Murakami was under pressure in round 6 and 7, but had a breakthrough in round 8, when he left Nakazato with a cut around his right eye, but Murakami was left with a bloodied nose. In round 9 Nakazato saw more cuts, as clashes of heads lead to him being looked over by the ringside doctor, who allowed the bout to continue. Likely feeling he was behind Nakazato fought hard in the final round and did enough to secure a draw, with all 3 cards being 95-95, in a bout that will leave plenty clamouring for a third bout between the two men, and leaving the title vacant.
The other title bout ended up being much less competitive, as OPBF Flyweight champion Jukiya Iimura (9-1, 2) [飯村樹輝弥] successfully defended his title, and avenged his loss, as he took a hard flight decision over dangerous Filipino fighter Esneth Domingo (21-3, 13). These two had fought back in 2022, when Dominog stopped Iimura in 6 rounds. This time around however, Iimura seemed like he had clearly learned from his setback.
From the off Domingo looked dangerous, but wild, whilst Iimura looked the sharper man, getting his shots off, landing cleanly, and getting in and out of range. Domingo, who threw with bad intentions, was having moments, but wasn’t finding cracks in Iimura’s defense as often as he’d like, and by round 4, he seemed to be slowing, with his footwork in particular looking sluggish when compared to that of the champion. After 4 rounds the scorecards were all over the place. One of 39-37 Iimura, one was 39-37 to Domingo, and one was 38-38. Fom there however Iimura began to take control, as Domingo not only saw his feet slow, but also his output, particularly from round 6, as Iimura continued to keep a steady output of shots. By the end of round 8 Iimura was up on 2 of the 3 cards, with scores of 77-75, whilst the third judge favoured Domingo by the same score.
Domingo continued to slow, and the final 4 rounds were all controlled by Iimura, who out landed and out worked Domingo, landing clean shots, using his footwork excellently, and even when Domingo tried to turn it around in the final round he still couldn’t do enough to make Iimura fight his fight.
After 12 rounds the scores for this were 117-111, twice, and 115-113, all for Iimura.
After the bout Iimura explained "My opponent has good memories of the first half, so I thought it would be okay to make him strike out a lot” and added "His feet couldn't keep up, so I was able to land punches”. Iimura then went on to say "I was able to try a lot of different things in training, like close-in boxing, which I don't usually do," Iimura’s trainer also spoke about their gameplan, saying that he had expected to lose early rounds but that they felt they were in control at the halfway point, and seemed very happy about that.
Domingo told the media after the fight "He used his legs and was so fast that I couldn't catch up." adding"I just had to go forward and fight in a fighter style," and seemed open to a rubber match, saying "I want to fight again!"
The under-card bout of note was a genuine upset as former Japanese 140lb champion Homura Fujita (12-3, 10) [藤田裕崇] was stopped by the unbeaten Eikichi Kawamura (6-0-1, 4) [川村英吉], who secured the biggest win of his career. Fujita looked to set the pace and was aggressive through the first two rounds, but Kawamura defended well, looked for counter opportunities and made it clear that whilst he was less offensive than Fujita, he was having success. In round 3 that success really up a level, with a Kawamura uppercut being the start of the end in round 3. Fujita took the uppercut and then began to fall apart as Kawamura jumped on him, unloading with both hands until Fujita stumbled and forced the referee to jump in and wave the bout off.
The first of two title fights saw former Japanese Lightweight champion Shuma Nakazato (15-3-4, 8) [仲里周磨] fight to a draw with Yudai Murakami (6-2-1) [村上雄大], in a bout for the vacant JBC Lightweight title. These two, who had fought back in 2023 when Nakazato took a hard fought win, and in this rematch there was nothing to split them in a tit for tat, back and forth bout fought on a very even keel.
The bout was close from the off, with every round being hard to call. This lead to the open scoring being 48-47 to Murakami after 5 rounds, though there was almost nothing between them, and the cards could have been 48-47 the other without much complaining. Not only was the action being fought evenly, but round by round this was getting better, as both begin to find their rhythm in round 2 and moved through the gears. Murakami was under pressure in round 6 and 7, but had a breakthrough in round 8, when he left Nakazato with a cut around his right eye, but Murakami was left with a bloodied nose. In round 9 Nakazato saw more cuts, as clashes of heads lead to him being looked over by the ringside doctor, who allowed the bout to continue. Likely feeling he was behind Nakazato fought hard in the final round and did enough to secure a draw, with all 3 cards being 95-95, in a bout that will leave plenty clamouring for a third bout between the two men, and leaving the title vacant.
The other title bout ended up being much less competitive, as OPBF Flyweight champion Jukiya Iimura (9-1, 2) [飯村樹輝弥] successfully defended his title, and avenged his loss, as he took a hard flight decision over dangerous Filipino fighter Esneth Domingo (21-3, 13). These two had fought back in 2022, when Dominog stopped Iimura in 6 rounds. This time around however, Iimura seemed like he had clearly learned from his setback.
From the off Domingo looked dangerous, but wild, whilst Iimura looked the sharper man, getting his shots off, landing cleanly, and getting in and out of range. Domingo, who threw with bad intentions, was having moments, but wasn’t finding cracks in Iimura’s defense as often as he’d like, and by round 4, he seemed to be slowing, with his footwork in particular looking sluggish when compared to that of the champion. After 4 rounds the scorecards were all over the place. One of 39-37 Iimura, one was 39-37 to Domingo, and one was 38-38. Fom there however Iimura began to take control, as Domingo not only saw his feet slow, but also his output, particularly from round 6, as Iimura continued to keep a steady output of shots. By the end of round 8 Iimura was up on 2 of the 3 cards, with scores of 77-75, whilst the third judge favoured Domingo by the same score.
Domingo continued to slow, and the final 4 rounds were all controlled by Iimura, who out landed and out worked Domingo, landing clean shots, using his footwork excellently, and even when Domingo tried to turn it around in the final round he still couldn’t do enough to make Iimura fight his fight.
After 12 rounds the scores for this were 117-111, twice, and 115-113, all for Iimura.
After the bout Iimura explained "My opponent has good memories of the first half, so I thought it would be okay to make him strike out a lot” and added "His feet couldn't keep up, so I was able to land punches”. Iimura then went on to say "I was able to try a lot of different things in training, like close-in boxing, which I don't usually do," Iimura’s trainer also spoke about their gameplan, saying that he had expected to lose early rounds but that they felt they were in control at the halfway point, and seemed very happy about that.
Domingo told the media after the fight "He used his legs and was so fast that I couldn't catch up." adding"I just had to go forward and fight in a fighter style," and seemed open to a rubber match, saying "I want to fight again!"