Results from the All Japan Rookie of the Year finals
Earlier today the Korakuen Hall played host to the latest All Japan Rookie of the Year final, ending last year's tournament. The show was scheduled to have 12 bouts in total, though sadly 4 of those were cancelled before hand giving us just 8 bouts.
Before we look at the bouts we did get, we'll quickly talk about the 4 bouts we didn't get. They were the Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Welterweight and Middleweight bouts. Despite not taking place, the man who didn't pull out of the bouts all had to take part in a weigh in to win the tournament, which they did. The lead to Daichi Morino (3-1, 2) [森野大地] being crowned the Flyweight Rookie of the Year; Masato Shinoda (4-0, 3) [篠田将人] winning at Super Flyweight; Taiki Henzan (5-1, 4) [平安山大樹] winning at Welterweight; and Kohei Miyamoto (5-1-1, 5) [宮本康平] winning the tournament at Middleweight.
The first of the 8 bouts was a hotly contested bout at Minimumweight as Daisuke Sumita (6-1, 3) [墨田 大祐] took a very competitive split decision over Sho Hatsuda (6-2, 2) [初田 翔]. This was high level and intense, with good work rate from both men, but sadly neither man had had the power to hurt the other leading to a bout that was entertaining, but very hard to call either way. Both men a card of 48-47 in their favour with the deciding judge having it 49-47 to Sumita.
The Light Flyweight bout was much less competitive, and saw the coming out part of a teenager well worthy of attention. That was Kanamu Sakama (5-0, 4) [坂間 叶夢] who took his first decision win as he dominated Takuma Kamigaki (2-1-1) [神垣 拓磨]. Sakama was aggressive from the off, using an excellent jab, particularly to the body. Kamigaki had a good round 3 but was back under pressure in the final round as Sakama announced himself as one to watch going forward.
Another heavy handed fighter who heard the final bell for the first time was Shori Umezu (7-0, 6) who claimed the Bantamweight crown with a hard fought decision win over Daichi Hirai (5-2, 1). Umezu looked to make the fight a fire fight from the opening moments and had Hirai backing up, but to his credit Hirai saw out the storm and rocked Umezu who ended up in all sorts of trouble in the middle of the opening round, but remained up right, regained his composure and cleared his head. After the tough start for Umezu he managed to bully his way through the rest of the bout, using his physicality to wear down Hirai and secure a very hard earned decision.
At Super Bantamweight Retsu Takahashi (4-1, 2) [高橋 烈] suffered his first loss, as he was narrowly beaten by Misaki Hirano (6-1, 2) [平野 岬]. This was technical early on but it did seem like the men were too similar at times, with both men waiting for the other and offer a counter opportunity. As a result the bout never really caught fire and was a bit of a frustrating affair all round. It was close, but Hirano took the decision 48-47 on all 3 cards.
At Featherweight we had another close one, in fact it was so close that the judges failed to split the two men. This was a bout between Kai Watanabe (6-0-1, 2) [渡邊 海] and Chihiro Iwashita (3-0-1, 2) [岩下 千紘] that resulted in a draw between the two men, with two judges scoring it even. The bout was a really interesting one with with Iwashita pressing the action and Watanabe showing some lovely movement, to make his man miss, but rarely make him really pay. To his credit when he did make him pay he looked really good, but it did feel like he could have let his hands go more at times. In round 3 Iwasahita landed the most notable shot of the fight, staggering Watanabe into the ropes and touching down. Despite the knockdown it wasn't enough for Iwashita to earn the victory.
At Super Featherweight we got the first stoppage of the show as the talented Jinu Lee (8-0, 4) [李 鎮宇] stopped Seiryu Yamana (2-1, 1) [山名 生竜] in 2 rounds. Yamana had a good start and looked the equal of Lee at times in the opening minute. Sadly however a headclash midway into the round seemed to rattle Yamana, who looked in genuine pain afterwards. Yamana did regain his composure afterwards and fought well to the end of the round. As the round was coming to a close Lee was tagged and he looked to hold, accidentally stumbling into Yamana and headbutting him in his crotch. As a result of the accidental, and freak, incident Yamana was given a chance to recover. At the start of round 2 Lee tried to manhandle his man and he dropped him in the corner with a huge overhand right. Yamana beat the count but Lee smelled blood and went hunting, dropping his man a second time with a left hook, causing the referee to wave the bout off.
The Lightweight bout saw Ryugo Yanagibori (8-2, 1) [栁堀 隆吾] take a clear decision over Ran Ijuin (3-2-1, 1) [伊集院 嵐]. The first round saw the two men battle for range and distance, but in round 2 a right hand from Yanagibori dropped Ijuin. He recovered from the knock down but struggled to work his way back into the fight, which quickly got messy, as Yanagibori looked to keep range and tie up up close, whilst Ijuin looked to force a fire fight. After 4 rounds there no argument about the winner, with Yanagibori taking a clear win.
The final bout on the show was at 140lbs, and saw the hard hitting Kotaro Sekine (3-0, 3) [関根 幸太朗] score a second round TKO win over Genki Yamashita (4-1-2, 2) [山下 玄輝]. This was messy to begin with as Sekine came forward, looking to land heavy leather and Yamashita trying to neutralise the power differential between the two men, by holding and spoiling. The spoiling of Yamashita saw him see out the first round but in round 2 Sekine got to his man, upped his intensity, and broke down Yamashita, who had no answer to the sustained pressure of his foe. With Yamashita taking bombs it was only time until a monster close the show, and mid way through the round that's exactly what happened, with Sekine dropping Yamashita with a short left hook, forcing an end to the bout.
Before we look at the bouts we did get, we'll quickly talk about the 4 bouts we didn't get. They were the Flyweight, Super Flyweight, Welterweight and Middleweight bouts. Despite not taking place, the man who didn't pull out of the bouts all had to take part in a weigh in to win the tournament, which they did. The lead to Daichi Morino (3-1, 2) [森野大地] being crowned the Flyweight Rookie of the Year; Masato Shinoda (4-0, 3) [篠田将人] winning at Super Flyweight; Taiki Henzan (5-1, 4) [平安山大樹] winning at Welterweight; and Kohei Miyamoto (5-1-1, 5) [宮本康平] winning the tournament at Middleweight.
The first of the 8 bouts was a hotly contested bout at Minimumweight as Daisuke Sumita (6-1, 3) [墨田 大祐] took a very competitive split decision over Sho Hatsuda (6-2, 2) [初田 翔]. This was high level and intense, with good work rate from both men, but sadly neither man had had the power to hurt the other leading to a bout that was entertaining, but very hard to call either way. Both men a card of 48-47 in their favour with the deciding judge having it 49-47 to Sumita.
The Light Flyweight bout was much less competitive, and saw the coming out part of a teenager well worthy of attention. That was Kanamu Sakama (5-0, 4) [坂間 叶夢] who took his first decision win as he dominated Takuma Kamigaki (2-1-1) [神垣 拓磨]. Sakama was aggressive from the off, using an excellent jab, particularly to the body. Kamigaki had a good round 3 but was back under pressure in the final round as Sakama announced himself as one to watch going forward.
Another heavy handed fighter who heard the final bell for the first time was Shori Umezu (7-0, 6) who claimed the Bantamweight crown with a hard fought decision win over Daichi Hirai (5-2, 1). Umezu looked to make the fight a fire fight from the opening moments and had Hirai backing up, but to his credit Hirai saw out the storm and rocked Umezu who ended up in all sorts of trouble in the middle of the opening round, but remained up right, regained his composure and cleared his head. After the tough start for Umezu he managed to bully his way through the rest of the bout, using his physicality to wear down Hirai and secure a very hard earned decision.
At Super Bantamweight Retsu Takahashi (4-1, 2) [高橋 烈] suffered his first loss, as he was narrowly beaten by Misaki Hirano (6-1, 2) [平野 岬]. This was technical early on but it did seem like the men were too similar at times, with both men waiting for the other and offer a counter opportunity. As a result the bout never really caught fire and was a bit of a frustrating affair all round. It was close, but Hirano took the decision 48-47 on all 3 cards.
At Featherweight we had another close one, in fact it was so close that the judges failed to split the two men. This was a bout between Kai Watanabe (6-0-1, 2) [渡邊 海] and Chihiro Iwashita (3-0-1, 2) [岩下 千紘] that resulted in a draw between the two men, with two judges scoring it even. The bout was a really interesting one with with Iwashita pressing the action and Watanabe showing some lovely movement, to make his man miss, but rarely make him really pay. To his credit when he did make him pay he looked really good, but it did feel like he could have let his hands go more at times. In round 3 Iwasahita landed the most notable shot of the fight, staggering Watanabe into the ropes and touching down. Despite the knockdown it wasn't enough for Iwashita to earn the victory.
At Super Featherweight we got the first stoppage of the show as the talented Jinu Lee (8-0, 4) [李 鎮宇] stopped Seiryu Yamana (2-1, 1) [山名 生竜] in 2 rounds. Yamana had a good start and looked the equal of Lee at times in the opening minute. Sadly however a headclash midway into the round seemed to rattle Yamana, who looked in genuine pain afterwards. Yamana did regain his composure afterwards and fought well to the end of the round. As the round was coming to a close Lee was tagged and he looked to hold, accidentally stumbling into Yamana and headbutting him in his crotch. As a result of the accidental, and freak, incident Yamana was given a chance to recover. At the start of round 2 Lee tried to manhandle his man and he dropped him in the corner with a huge overhand right. Yamana beat the count but Lee smelled blood and went hunting, dropping his man a second time with a left hook, causing the referee to wave the bout off.
The Lightweight bout saw Ryugo Yanagibori (8-2, 1) [栁堀 隆吾] take a clear decision over Ran Ijuin (3-2-1, 1) [伊集院 嵐]. The first round saw the two men battle for range and distance, but in round 2 a right hand from Yanagibori dropped Ijuin. He recovered from the knock down but struggled to work his way back into the fight, which quickly got messy, as Yanagibori looked to keep range and tie up up close, whilst Ijuin looked to force a fire fight. After 4 rounds there no argument about the winner, with Yanagibori taking a clear win.
The final bout on the show was at 140lbs, and saw the hard hitting Kotaro Sekine (3-0, 3) [関根 幸太朗] score a second round TKO win over Genki Yamashita (4-1-2, 2) [山下 玄輝]. This was messy to begin with as Sekine came forward, looking to land heavy leather and Yamashita trying to neutralise the power differential between the two men, by holding and spoiling. The spoiling of Yamashita saw him see out the first round but in round 2 Sekine got to his man, upped his intensity, and broke down Yamashita, who had no answer to the sustained pressure of his foe. With Yamashita taking bombs it was only time until a monster close the show, and mid way through the round that's exactly what happened, with Sekine dropping Yamashita with a short left hook, forcing an end to the bout.