Earlier today at the EDION Arena Osaka we had the penultimate set of fights from this year
Rookie of the Year, with the show deciding the West Japan representatives for the All Japan final. In total there were 12 bouts, with bouts taking place at every where from Minimumweight to Middleweight, except for 154lbs.
The show kicked off with the Minimumweight bout, which saw teenager
Ren Kojima (5-1-2) [小島 蓮] take a 4 round shut out win over
Yosshah Matsumoto (1-2-1) [ヨッシャー松本]. Kojima was just the better man through out, he was busier, more accurate, used the ring better and even when Matsumoto had some success the play was taken away from him rather quickly.
The action was much more competitive at 108lbs, as
Hyogo Kimura (6-1-1, 1) [木村 彪吾] fought to a majority draw with
Nozomu Wakiyama (2-1-1) [脇山 望]. This was close through out, with the two men matching up very well. In round 2 it seemed like Kimura was getting the upper hand, but Wakiyama turned on the gas himself in round 3 before the two went to war in round 4. After the final bell two judges turned in cards of 38-38, whilst the third judge has it 40-36, giving Kimura the nod. Due to the tie breaker rules of Rookie of the Year this mean Kimura progressed to the All Japan final.
At Flyweight we had competitive action, with
Yasuhiro Kanzaki (6-1, 2) [神崎 靖浩] taking a narrow unanimous decision over
Takatora Suzuki (2-1-1) [鈴木 尊虎]. Suzuki seemed the more aggressive in the opening round, but Kanzaki used his jab well and began to control the ring, particularly in round 2. After that Suzuki always looked in the bout, and pressed well, but it was the clean punching and movement of Kanzaki that proved to be the difference.
In the Super Flyweight bout it was
Taichi Sugimoto (6-0-1, 1) [杉本 太一] who came out on top in a battle of unbeaten men, out pointing
Sora Sunohara (2-1-2) [春原 青空]. To begin with Sunohara looked to keep the bout cautions, but Sugimoto looked to press the action in rounds 2. This meant Sunohara was chasing the bout in the second half, which allowed Sugimoto the chance to land some solid shots and put his foot on the gas to put the decision beyond doubt at the end of 4 rounds.
We had the second shut out of the day at Bantamweight, as
Fuya Tomita (5-2, 2) [冨田 風弥] popped the cherry of
Ren Kobayashi (3-1, 1) [小林 廉]. Tomita used his height and reach well to begin the bout, and although Kobayashi had some success with counters it really wasn't enough to make the round seem competitive. From there on Tomita always seemed to have the last word in exchanges, mixing up his attacks well and was worthy of the decision after 4 rounds.
We got the first stoppage of the day at Super Bantamweight, as
Sora Fukunaga (8-0, 4) [福永 宇宙] stopped
Ren Anzai (4-4-1, 2) [安西 蓮] in round 3. This was an exciting one for 2 rounds, but in round 3 Fukunaga dropped his man. Anzai recovered to his feet but a follow up forced the referee to intervene, giving Fukunaga the stoppage victory.
We had another stoppage at Featherweight, as
Hikaru Fukunaga (8-1, 5) [福永 輝] defeated
Kakeru Mio (5-3, 3) [三尾 翔], thanks to a 5th round TKO win. Fukunaga dropped Mio in round 1, but was deducted a point as the shot came in the break, and Mio was giving a break to recover. From there on Mio was a trier, but Fukunaga looked too big and too strong, and in round 5 he dropped hi man for the second time. Mio beat the count but the referee waved the bout off with Mio standing.
The unbeaten
Seika Fukuda (5-0, 1)[福田 星河] succeeded at Super Featherweight, as he defeated
Kazuki Higuchi (5-2, 2) [樋口 和輝] in a competitive 5 rounder. This was competitive through out, with a nice mix of styles, though Fukuda got off to some notable success early, dropping Higuchi in round 2. Higuchi battled back well, but Fukuda just did enough to keep his nose in front, taking the decision with scores of 48-46 from all 3 judges.
The second stoppage of the show came at Lightweight, where
Eiji Togawa (6-3, 3) [戸川 叡二] stopped
Hayato Fukagawa (2-3, 1) [深川 隼人], in round 3. Togawa was aggressive early on and scored a knockdown in the opening round. Fukugawa recovered well but was hurt again in round 3 and the referee needed to save him from further punishment.
At 140lbs
Aito Takabatake (5-1-1, 1) [高畠 愛大] took a razor thin majority decision over
Yoshiki Takahashi (3-5, 3) [高橋 良季]. This was hotly competitive, though maybe not the most exciting of fights, with the styles not really meshing in rounds 2 and 3. After 4 rounds 1 of the judges had the two men level, but the other two gave
Takabatake the win with scores of 39-37.At Welterweight
Hiroya Nojima (5-1, 2) [能嶋 宏弥] took a clear decision over
Bigbaby Okamoto (2-1, 1) [ビッグベイビー岡本], thanks in part to a knockdown at the end of round 3. Okamoto tried to turn it all around in round 4, but was unable to take out Nojima, who had done enough to earn the decision.
The final bout came at Middleweight and saw
Katsuhiro Nakata (5-0, 4) [中田 勝浩] score a 3rd round TKO win over
Norifumi Hayakawa (2-1, 2) [早川 教文]. Hayakwawa came out offensively and seemed to been in control early on, but in round 3 a body shot from Nakata hurt Hayakawa and form there on Nakata let shots go until the referee stepped in and saved the previously unbeaten Hayakawa.
After the event the there was 3 awards given out. The MVP when to Sora Fukunaga, for his victory over Ren Anzai at Super Bantamweight. The skill award was given to Middleweight Katsuhiro Nakata, for his victory over Norifumi Hayakawa and the fighting spirit award went to Fuya Tomita, for his win over Ren Kobayashi.
The winner will back in action in the All Japan finals on February 21st, where they will clash with the East Japan winners, who were decided a week ago, with that event expected to be shown live on G+.
