PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight kickboxing rules bout between Hideki Suzuki (ranked 25677 p4p, 5485 weight class) and Taiga Kawabe (ranked 330 p4p, 272 weight class). I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Suzuki
vs
Kawabe

180 cm
20
135
1 - 2 - 0

165 cm
20
135
0 - 0 - 0

Basic striking
Good chin

Good kicks
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hideki Suzuki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Taiga Kawabe!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kawabe fails to land with a series of punches.
Sloppy strikes from Suzuki. Those never looked like landing.
Kawabe tries to counter with a clinch but Suzuki shakes him off and moves away.

Suzuki drives through and clinches with Kawabe against the ropes.

Suzuki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Suzuki rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kawabe moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Kawabe connects with a high kick.
Kawabe dodges the punch combination from Suzuki.

Suzuki rushes Kawabe and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the ropes, as the pace of the fight slows.
Suzuki lands a nice shot to the body.

Suzuki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Kawabe is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Suzuki has taken the fight to the clinch.

Suzuki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Suzuki looks to land a combination but Kawabe avoids it well.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch but Suzuki swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Suzuki has Kawabe up against the ropes in a clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the ropes, as the pace of the fight slows.

Suzuki breaks the clinch.
A looping hook to the body misses from Suzuki. Kawabe does a little dance to reset his feet.

Suzuki closes the distance and clinches.
Kawabe stalling in the clinch but Suzuki improves position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kawabe is looking to control Suzuki's arms but Suzuki gets an underhook and turns him. Now Kawabe has his back to the ropes.

Suzuki breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Suzuki swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Suzuki circles away from the clinch attempt.

Suzuki clinches up with Kawabe and pushes him back against the ropes.

Suzuki breaks from the clinch.

Suzuki closes the distance and clinches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Suzuki breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Suzuki darts in and clinches Kawabe up against the ropes.
Suzuki looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.

Suzuki breaks the clinch.
Kawabe throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Kawabe doesn't manage to clinch there - Suzuki circles away.
Suzuki appears to be looking for a big counter.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Suzuki swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kawabe wants to clinch up but Suzuki keeps it at a distance.
Suzuki tried to counter with a leg kick but Kawabe avoided it.

Suzuki clinches with his opponent.
Kawabe lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Hideki Suzuki dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Kawabe lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Suzuki swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Suzuki takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Suzuki takes a kick to the side of the head.

Suzuki gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Suzuki lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the ropes.

Suzuki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Suzuki has taken the fight to the clinch.
Kawabe trying to land knees to the body.

Suzuki manages to break the clinch.

Suzuki gets a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Suzuki breaks the clinch.
Kawabe tries to close the distance and clinch up but Suzuki swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kawabe avoids the head kick by Suzuki.
Kawabe sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Hideki Suzuki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Suzuki moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Suzuki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe tries to clinch up
and Suzuki counters with a nice uppercut.
Suzuki is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Kawabe can do to turn this around?
Kawabe tries to clinch there but Suzuki circles away.
Hideki Suzuki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Suzuki clinches up against the ropes.
Kawabe stalling in the clinch but Suzuki improves position.
Suzuki blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Suzuki breaks from the clinch.

Suzuki has managed to clinch.
Suzuki is leaning against Kawabe and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

Suzuki escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Suzuki has managed to clinch.
Suzuki is working Kawabe over against the ropes.
Suzuki really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Kawabe is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Kawabe is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Suzuki prevents Kawabe from breaking the clinch.

Suzuki manages to break the clinch.
Suzuki looks to land a combination but Kawabe avoids it well.

Suzuki moves into range and clinches up with Kawabe.

Suzuki escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Suzuki forces Kawabe back against the ropes and clinches.
Kawabe has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Suzuki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Suzuki falls off balance throwing a combination
and Kawabe counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Suzuki misses with a series of wild punches.
Hideki Suzuki is winning the standup battle so far.
Kawabe tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Suzuki counters with a head kick. That will keep Kawabe thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Hideki Suzuki dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Kawabe misses with a head kick.
Suzuki is looking for a counter combo.

Suzuki clinches up against the ropes.

Suzuki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Kawabe looks to land a combination but Suzuki avoids it well.
Suzuki swats away the attempt to clinch by Kawabe.

Suzuki drives through and clinches with Kawabe against the ropes.
Hideki Suzuki has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Kawabe is trying to stall.

Suzuki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kawabe tries to clinch up
and Suzuki makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Kawabe really felt that one!

Kawabe tries to keep at a distance but Suzuki has taken the fight into the clinch.
Suzuki pushes Kawabe back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Suzuki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sloppy strikes from Kawabe. Those never looked like landing.
Suzuki showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Kawabe.

Suzuki closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Kawabe throws a knee to the head but misses.

Suzuki breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Suzuki throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Suzuki clinches up with Kawabe and pushes him back against the ropes.
Suzuki keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Kawabe's efforts to push away.

Suzuki breaks the clinch.
Suzuki lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Suzuki gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Suzuki breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A solid leg kick lands there for Suzuki.
Suzuki lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Suzuki takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Suzuki goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Kawabe fails with an attempt to clinch.

Suzuki closes the distance and pushes Kawabe back into the ropes.
Kawabe has had enough of the clinch but Suzuki keeps him there for the moment.

Suzuki manages to break the clinch.
Suzuki throws a head kick but Kawabe moves out of range.
Kawabe misses with a few strikes there.
Kawabe jabs Suzuki to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Taiga Kawabe has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hideki Suzuki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Kawabe gets tackled into the ropes by Suzuki. Suzuki maintains the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hideki Suzuki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Suzuki 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hideki Suzuki!
A very excited looking Hideki Suzuki rambled incoherently for about 5 minutes post fight about how awesome he is. It was kinda funny for a while but then everyone got annoyed.