Draw it Up: Mamoru Retains SHOOTO 123-lb. Title
Draw it up
Jason Nowe Mar 24, 2006
TOKYO, March 24 — With the Rolling Stones playing a concert only a
couple hundred meters away in the adjacent Tokyo Dome, SHOOTO put
on its second show of 2006 in Korakuen Hall Friday night.
This could be the legendary rock band’s last time in Japan, and there were lots of scalpers around. But never fear dear readers, because we here at Sherdog.com always get the story — no matter what pains we have to endure, what mountains we have to climb or what concerts we have to miss.
This event showcased SHOOTO’s bantamweights (56 kilos, 123 lbs.),
with the last three fights of night coming from this division.
The main event featured Shooting Gym Yokohama’s Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) taking on AACC fighter Shinichi Kojima (Pictures).
Friday’s bout remained on the feet until the last minute of the third round when Kojima scored a takedown in the corner. But the Afro-haired champion shrimped hard and was back to his feet in a clinch only seconds later. “BJ” scored one last takedown in the last 15 seconds, but had no time to do anything with it.
The rest this fight was a striking clinic.
One of Mamoru’s great strengths is an ability to slip punches and use his feet to get out of the way of strikes. The champion moved his head well and always kept his chin down when throwing his hands.
While doing well on the outside and landing some beautifully timed kicks to Kojima’s mid-section, Mamoru delivered most of his damage in the clinch. The champion has some wicked knees and is able to throw them not only straight but also from the side so as they act like hard liver punches. He mixed up knees with hard punches to the body.
The lightning quick Kojima never backed down and really took it to the champion when he had the chance, throwing good combinations and connecting with hard low kicks. The AACC fighter seemed more game to wrestle in the clinch, but just couldn’t find a way to get the slippery champion to the mat. Instead he resorted to throwing knees to the legs while being tied up with Mamoru.
Going a mile a minute right from the start it was hard to look down and take notes, because with the number of punches these guys threw you knew a knockout could come at any second.
The last minute was probably the fight’s most exciting. Kojima scored a takedown while the fighters’ corners and fans screamed before the close bout went to the judges. They returned with a draw and Mamoru retained his title.
Kojima may have to wait a little while, but hopefully the SHOOTO Commission will put these two back together to settle this great rivalry.
It had been two and a half years since Masatoshi Abe last fought, but in his bout against Homare Kuboyama (Pictures) the AACC fighter showed no signs of ring rust.
After exchanging blows, Abe landed a perfectly timed one-two combination that forced Kuboyama to take a standing-eight count. In the last 30 seconds of the first, Abe really turned on the strikes. Kuboyama looked out on his feet but was able to hang on till the bell.
The rest of the fight saw Abe systematically picked apart his opponent with well-timed strikes. Kuboyama went for a shot when he found himself taking too much damage, but the AACC fighter sprawled well to avoid the takedown. The fight went to the judges and Abe walked away with the unanimous decision.
Taking on SHOOTO veteran Junji Ikoma (Pictures), Daiji Takahashi (Pictures) returned to the bantamweight scene for the first time since losing to Mamoru last December.
Takahashi scored an early takedown, only to have his opponent continue the momentum of the technique and score a reversal followed by a strong triangle attempt. As Takahashi struggled to fight off the triangle, Ikoma worked to manipulate the trapped fighter’s arm for a submission. After a tense few moments, the Akimoto fighter was able to escape.
The rest of the bout saw the two slugging it out on their feet until the third round, when Takahashi scored a takedown as he fell into the guard.
From here Takahashi worked to pass, but once again fell into an Ikoma triangle. The fourth-ranked SHOOTO bantamweight strained to increase the pressure on the technique and eventually forced Takahashi to tap at the 3:50 mark of round one.
This could be the legendary rock band’s last time in Japan, and there were lots of scalpers around. But never fear dear readers, because we here at Sherdog.com always get the story — no matter what pains we have to endure, what mountains we have to climb or what concerts we have to miss.
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The main event featured Shooting Gym Yokohama’s Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) taking on AACC fighter Shinichi Kojima (Pictures).
Originally the charismatic Mamoru hoped to take on former GMC
Demolition fighter Setsu
Iguchi (Pictures). A lot of smack talk and bad
blood has run between these two ever since Iguchi’s arrival to
SHOOTO. But the hopes of seeing this bout were dashed when Iguchi
had to throw in the towel in his bout with Kojima last December due
to a broken thumb, thus making the AACC fighter the number-one
challenger to Mamoru’s bantamweight crown.
Friday’s bout remained on the feet until the last minute of the third round when Kojima scored a takedown in the corner. But the Afro-haired champion shrimped hard and was back to his feet in a clinch only seconds later. “BJ” scored one last takedown in the last 15 seconds, but had no time to do anything with it.
The rest this fight was a striking clinic.
One of Mamoru’s great strengths is an ability to slip punches and use his feet to get out of the way of strikes. The champion moved his head well and always kept his chin down when throwing his hands.
While doing well on the outside and landing some beautifully timed kicks to Kojima’s mid-section, Mamoru delivered most of his damage in the clinch. The champion has some wicked knees and is able to throw them not only straight but also from the side so as they act like hard liver punches. He mixed up knees with hard punches to the body.
The lightning quick Kojima never backed down and really took it to the champion when he had the chance, throwing good combinations and connecting with hard low kicks. The AACC fighter seemed more game to wrestle in the clinch, but just couldn’t find a way to get the slippery champion to the mat. Instead he resorted to throwing knees to the legs while being tied up with Mamoru.
Going a mile a minute right from the start it was hard to look down and take notes, because with the number of punches these guys threw you knew a knockout could come at any second.
The last minute was probably the fight’s most exciting. Kojima scored a takedown while the fighters’ corners and fans screamed before the close bout went to the judges. They returned with a draw and Mamoru retained his title.
Kojima may have to wait a little while, but hopefully the SHOOTO Commission will put these two back together to settle this great rivalry.
It had been two and a half years since Masatoshi Abe last fought, but in his bout against Homare Kuboyama (Pictures) the AACC fighter showed no signs of ring rust.
After exchanging blows, Abe landed a perfectly timed one-two combination that forced Kuboyama to take a standing-eight count. In the last 30 seconds of the first, Abe really turned on the strikes. Kuboyama looked out on his feet but was able to hang on till the bell.
The rest of the fight saw Abe systematically picked apart his opponent with well-timed strikes. Kuboyama went for a shot when he found himself taking too much damage, but the AACC fighter sprawled well to avoid the takedown. The fight went to the judges and Abe walked away with the unanimous decision.
Taking on SHOOTO veteran Junji Ikoma (Pictures), Daiji Takahashi (Pictures) returned to the bantamweight scene for the first time since losing to Mamoru last December.
Takahashi scored an early takedown, only to have his opponent continue the momentum of the technique and score a reversal followed by a strong triangle attempt. As Takahashi struggled to fight off the triangle, Ikoma worked to manipulate the trapped fighter’s arm for a submission. After a tense few moments, the Akimoto fighter was able to escape.
The rest of the bout saw the two slugging it out on their feet until the third round, when Takahashi scored a takedown as he fell into the guard.
From here Takahashi worked to pass, but once again fell into an Ikoma triangle. The fourth-ranked SHOOTO bantamweight strained to increase the pressure on the technique and eventually forced Takahashi to tap at the 3:50 mark of round one.
