Minamoto retains Japanese title in thrilling opener to the Reiwa era
May 1st 2019 is the start of the Reiwa era of Japanese history. For boxing fans in Japan the first day of the new era was an exciting one, and saw a thrilling Japanese Featherweight title bout between Taiki Minamoto (16-5-1, 13) [源大輝] and Reiya Abe (19-2-1, 9) [阿部 麗也].
On paper the bout was excellent. You had heavy handed champion against skilled challenger. Both men were young enough to know a clean win here would boost their hopes of getting into the world title mix, and both were coming to give all they had.
Amazingly the bout over-came the high expectations many had of it, with great shifts in moment, amazing courage being shown by both and some thrilling action, that saw both needing to dig deep.
It was Minamoto who struck first, landing a right hand really late in the opening round to drop Abe. The challenger wasn't hurt, but the knockdown secured a big round for Minamoto, who dropped Abe again in round 2 with another right hand.
After just 6 minutes of action Abe was in a hole , down 20-16 on all 3 cards. Whilst he was certainly down he was still confident and went on to wins rounds 3 and 4 to get a foot hold in the bout. He was beginning to move around the ring, avoiding the power of Minamoto and controlling the bout. Minamoto, sensing the tide was turning, managed to have a great 5th round, to slow the momentum of the challenger.
When the scores were announced after rounds it was no surprise to see Minamoto in the lead, 48-45 on all 3 cards. Abe was down, but not out, and came back by winning rounds 6 and 7, and actually giving Minamoto a bit of a beating in round 7 as he landed left hands at will. Minamoto came back himself in the 8th round, staggering Abe in one of the few really competitive rounds of the fight, which is an odd thing to say about a bout that really was competitive overall.
Despite being hurt Abe knew he had to continue being the man on the front foot and won rounds 9 and 10 to earn a remarkable draw, with scores of 94-94, twice, and actually took a 95-94 on the third judges card, with that judge scoring round 8 as a 10-10.
After the bout neither man seemed happy at the result. Minamoto, who's left eye was swollen really badly, told reporters "The opponent got stronger in the second half and was frustrated with punches. The draw was a champion's privilege but I was not satisfied," he also hinted at potentially moving up in weight. An equally unhappy Abe was clearly annoyed about the knockdowns, know that if he hadn't been down he'd have won the bout, and he seemed the more eager for a rematch.
For fans wanting to watch this it will be uploaded to Boxing Raise in the coming hours.
If this is how the Reiwa era kicks off we're looking forward to what else the new period in Japan will give us! This was a great fight, and something all fans should make an effort to watch.
(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)
On paper the bout was excellent. You had heavy handed champion against skilled challenger. Both men were young enough to know a clean win here would boost their hopes of getting into the world title mix, and both were coming to give all they had.
Amazingly the bout over-came the high expectations many had of it, with great shifts in moment, amazing courage being shown by both and some thrilling action, that saw both needing to dig deep.
It was Minamoto who struck first, landing a right hand really late in the opening round to drop Abe. The challenger wasn't hurt, but the knockdown secured a big round for Minamoto, who dropped Abe again in round 2 with another right hand.
After just 6 minutes of action Abe was in a hole , down 20-16 on all 3 cards. Whilst he was certainly down he was still confident and went on to wins rounds 3 and 4 to get a foot hold in the bout. He was beginning to move around the ring, avoiding the power of Minamoto and controlling the bout. Minamoto, sensing the tide was turning, managed to have a great 5th round, to slow the momentum of the challenger.
When the scores were announced after rounds it was no surprise to see Minamoto in the lead, 48-45 on all 3 cards. Abe was down, but not out, and came back by winning rounds 6 and 7, and actually giving Minamoto a bit of a beating in round 7 as he landed left hands at will. Minamoto came back himself in the 8th round, staggering Abe in one of the few really competitive rounds of the fight, which is an odd thing to say about a bout that really was competitive overall.
Despite being hurt Abe knew he had to continue being the man on the front foot and won rounds 9 and 10 to earn a remarkable draw, with scores of 94-94, twice, and actually took a 95-94 on the third judges card, with that judge scoring round 8 as a 10-10.
After the bout neither man seemed happy at the result. Minamoto, who's left eye was swollen really badly, told reporters "The opponent got stronger in the second half and was frustrated with punches. The draw was a champion's privilege but I was not satisfied," he also hinted at potentially moving up in weight. An equally unhappy Abe was clearly annoyed about the knockdowns, know that if he hadn't been down he'd have won the bout, and he seemed the more eager for a rematch.
For fans wanting to watch this it will be uploaded to Boxing Raise in the coming hours.
If this is how the Reiwa era kicks off we're looking forward to what else the new period in Japan will give us! This was a great fight, and something all fans should make an effort to watch.
(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)