PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Saúl Tacoronte (ranked 940 p4p, 4782 weight class) and Damien Hawthorne (ranked 138 p4p, 533 weight class). Hawthorne has chosen Schism by Tool as his entrance music. Damien Hawthorne told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Tacoronte
vs
Hawthorne

190 cm
35
208
18 - 13 - 2

190 cm
32
218
22 - 12 - 0

World class boxer
Insanely flexible

World class MT
Granite chin

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 13 - 2, fighting out of Las Vegas, Saúl Tacoronte!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Damien Hawthorne!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tacoronte takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Tacoronte has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Tacoronte there as he acknowledges the shot.
Hawthorne tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Tacoronte was well out of range. Poor timing from Hawthorne.
Tacoronte looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
Tacoronte tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Tacoronte misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hawthorne.
Hawthorne was about to counter that last move with a leg kick but changes his mind.
Tacoronte misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Hawthorne jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Hawthorne waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Tacoronte.
Hawthorne throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Tacoronte sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hawthorne throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Tacoronte sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Tacoronte throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
A low kick lands for Tacoronte.
A cross from Hawthorne lands.
Saúl Tacoronte seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hawthorne misses with an uppercut.
Tacoronte attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tacoronte fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tacoronte just misses with a punch to the body.
Nice defenses there by Tacoronte.
Tacoronte misses with a low kick.
Tacoronte throws out a powerful jab.
Tacoronte throws a low kick but it's checked well by Hawthorne.
Hawthorne with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Tacoronte to score with a decent uppercut.
Tacoronte jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Tacoronte on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
A chopping leg kick lands by Hawthorne.
Hawthorne fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Tacoronte on the side of the head.
Tacoronte staying out of range there.
Tacoronte is looking to counter punch.
Tacoronte throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hawthorne loads up on a big right hand but Tacoronte slips the punch.
A decent looking cross lands there for Hawthorne.
Hawthorne has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Tacoronte.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hawthorne has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Tacoronte.
Hawthorne fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Tacoronte.
Tacoronte on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Jab, jab by Tacoronte - just one landing.
Hawthorne is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Tacoronte.
Hawthorne takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
A good leg kick by Tacoronte.
Hawthorne throws a jab when Tacoronte was well out of range.
Hawthorne throws a low kick but Tacoronte avoids it.
Hawthorne lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tacoronte scores with a head kick.
Hawthorne missing with a left hand there. Tacoronte was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Tacoronte pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Tacoronte throws a head kick but Hawthorne moves out of range.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Damien Hawthorne will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

A swing and a miss from Tacoronte.
Tacoronte just misses with a punch to the body.

Tacoronte closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
A right handed body shot lands from Tacoronte.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Tacoronte creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Tacoronte lands a nice shot to the body.
Tacoronte has a couple of punches blocked by Hawthorne.
Tacoronte misses with a short punch on the inside.
Hawthorne is working Tacoronte over against the ropes.
Tacoronte scores with a hook to the body.
Tacoronte throws a head punch that misses.
Tacoronte lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Tacoronte lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Tacoronte tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hawthorne's elbow.
Tacoronte pushes Hawthorne back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Tacoronte is trying to maintain a safe position but Hawthorne gets an underhook and turns Tacoronte into the ropes.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Tacoronte creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tacoronte tries to throw a body punch but Hawthorne avoids it by throwing Tacoronte back against the ropes.
Tacoronte takes a shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawthorne lands an uppercut.
Hawthorne blocks a body shot from Tacoronte.

Hawthorne breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Hawthorne gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Tacoronte throws a jab when Hawthorne was well out of range.
Hawthorne jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Hawthorne chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Hawthorne takes a shot to the body in his stride.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tacoronte. Hawthorne does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hawthorne misses with a leg kick
and Tacoronte counters with a nice uppercut.
Tacoronte takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Hawthorne throws a shot from downtown. Tacoronte moves away and avoids it.
Hawthorne misses with a body shot.
Tacoronte attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Hawthorne misses with a hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawthorne takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hawthorne catches Tacoronte with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Hawthorne misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Tacoronte.
Tacoronte tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Hawthorne manages to circle out of the way.
Hawthorne keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tacoronte looks to score with a jab to the body but Hawthorne is just out of range.
Tacoronte pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Tacoronte tried to score with a low kick but Hawthorne checks it.

Hawthorne gets tackled into the ropes by Tacoronte. Tacoronte maintains the clinch.
Tacoronte gets through Hawthorne's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Tacoronte.
Hawthorne has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Tacoronte seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Hawthorne can turn it around.
Tacoronte misses with the head strike.
Tacoronte scores with a shot to the side of Hawthorne's head.
Tacoronte swings wildly with an uppercut but Hawthorne uses good head movement to avoid it.
Tacoronte lands with a short shot to the head.
Tacoronte looking to slow down the pace here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Saúl Tacoronte dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Hawthorne connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Damien Hawthorne has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Tacoronte throws a sloppy head kick and Hawthorne moves out of range easily.
Hawthorne ducks under a wild hook from Tacoronte.
Tacoronte throws a hook but Hawthorne avoids it easily.
Tacoronte misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Hawthorne's corner calls for a 1-2. Hawthorne obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Tacoronte is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hawthorne can do to turn this around?
Hawthorne fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Tacoronte is out of range.
Hawthorne avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Tacoronte lands with a shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hawthorne has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Tacoronte finds it's way round the side to connect with Hawthorne's head.
Hawthorne waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Tacoronte.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tacoronte looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawthorne walks into a left hand.
Hawthorne keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tacoronte scores with a shot to the body.
Hawthorne keeps the fight on the outside.
Tacoronte connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
A solid body kick from Tacoronte.
A head kick misses from Tacoronte.
Tacoronte misses with a wild body shot.
Tacoronte on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Hawthorne. Hawthorne obviously looking to wear him down.
Hawthorne lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
A head kick misses from Hawthorne.
Hawthorne cracks Tacoronte with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the ropes.
Tacoronte pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Hawthorne back to the ropes. Tacoronte follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Hawthorne works over Tacoronte's head and body with a nice combination.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tacoronte. Hawthorne does a little dance to reset his feet.
Tacoronte lands a nice shot that snaps Hawthorne's head back.
Tacoronte moves forwards but Hawthorne connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Saúl Tacoronte is winning the standup battle so far.
Tacoronte scores with a shot to the body.
Tacoronte misses with a body shot
and Hawthorne counters with a nice uppercut.
Tacoronte looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Tacoronte throws a nice outside leg kick.
Tacoronte is looking to wear down Hawthorne with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Hawthorne avoids the body shot from Tacoronte.
Hawthorne throws an overhand right that lands on Tacoronte's shoulder, as Tacoronte tries to avoid the shot.
Hawthorne misses with a low kick.
An attempted straight right counter from Tacoronte misses the target.
Hawthorne on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A looping hook to the body misses from Tacoronte. Hawthorne does a little dance to reset his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Saúl Tacoronte.
Well Tacoronte has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight for Saúl Tacoronte!
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight for Saúl Tacoronte!
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight for Saúl Tacoronte!

Saúl Tacoronte wins by unanimous decision!
Saúl Tacoronte decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.
The defeated Damien Hawthorne had this to say: 'This was my final fight under Heartless Team management and gym. Thanks for the ride! It's been a pleasure'.