PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight kickboxing rules bout between Capitan Fairtex (ranked 5534 p4p, 5956 weight class) and Carter Cruz (ranked 273 p4p, 287 weight class). Carter Cruz struggled to make weight for this fight. He only made it down to 136.3lbs at the first attempt and had to take the additional two hours to make the official bout weight. Let's see how much it's taken out of him. The key to victory for Capitan Fairtex has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Fairtex
vs
Cruz

173 cm
25
135
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
18
145
0 - 1 - 0

Great elbows
KO power

Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Capitan Fairtex!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Carter Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Shigeki Fujiwara and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fairtex takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Fairtex lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Fairtex wants to break the clinch but can't.
Cruz working hard to break the clinch.
Cruz is stalling here.
Cruz is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Fairtex has Cruz pressed against the ropes, preventing Cruz from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Cruz is trying to force a seperation but Fairtex has the dominant position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz holding his opponent close, against the ropes.
Cruz wants to stall.
Fairtex wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Cruz has him pressed against the ropes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Fairtex blocks a body shot from Cruz.
Cruz working hard to break the clinch.
Cruz tries to circle away but Fairtex has him pinned against the ropes.
Cruz wants to break free but Fairtex has control.
Fairtex is stalling here.
Cruz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Fairtex keeps control of Cruz as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Fairtex keeps control of Cruz as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Cruz is trying to push Fairtex away but Fairtex has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Cruz is looking to break free of the clinch but Fairtex has double underhooks.
Cruz trying to control the position but instead, Fairtex has worked for underhooks and has pushed Cruz into the ropes.
A shot in the inside from Cruz.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Cruz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Cruz looking to stall.
Cruz tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Cruz dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the ropes.
Cruz trying to stall but Fairtex improves his position.
Fairtex misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fairtex is trying to break the clinch but Cruz has him pressed against the ropes.
Fairtex wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Fairtex is trying to push Cruz away but Cruz has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Fairtex lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Capitan Fairtex dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Cruz instigates a clinch.
Fairtex tries to circle away but Cruz has him pinned against the ropes.
Cruz lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Fairtex wants to break the clinch but can't.
Cruz wants to get back to striking at distance but Fairtex won't allow it.
Fairtex doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Come on Fairtex - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Cruz is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Knees to the body from Fairtex.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cruz is trying to push Fairtex away but Fairtex has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Cruz has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Cruz displaying some good clinch control by pressing Fairtex up against the ropes.
Cruz taking a breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz is looking to control Fairtex's arms but Fairtex gets an underhook and turns him. Now Cruz has his back to the ropes.
Cruz is persisting with his attempts to control the action in the clinch, rather than do any real damage.
Cruz keeps control of Fairtex as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Fairtex wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Fairtex wants to break free but Cruz has control.
Fairtex is trying to break free.
Cruz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Fairtex breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Fairtex looks to land a combination. Cruz sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Capitan Fairtex is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Fairtex lands a head kick. Cruz smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

Cruz has taken the fight to the clinch.
Fairtex throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Cruz blocks it with crossed arms.
Cruz looks to throw an elbow but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex wants to get back to striking at distance but Cruz won't allow it.
Fairtex can't break the clinch.
Fairtex can't break the clinch.
Fairtex is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Cruz tries to circle away but Fairtex has him pinned against the ropes.
Cruz misses with a punch to the body.
Cruz tries to break free but Fairtex pushes him back against the ropes.
Cruz blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Cruz as Fairtex tries to tie him up.
Fairtex is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cruz can do to turn this around?
Cruz has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Cruz trying to stall but Fairtex improves his position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Capitan Fairtex dominated that second round.
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. 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.

Cruz throws a body kick that misses.
Cruz is looking to clinch.
Cruz tries to clinch but Fairtex is having none of it.
Fairtex misses with a body shot.

Cruz gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Fairtex wants to break the clinch but can't.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Cruz.
Cruz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Fairtex wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Cruz as Fairtex tries to tie him up.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Fairtex can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Cruz is looking to break free of the clinch but Fairtex has double underhooks.
Fairtex wants to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Fairtex keeps control of Cruz as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Fairtex working aggressively here.
Cruz tries to break free but Fairtex pushes him back against the ropes.
Fairtex tries to break free but Cruz pushes him back against the ropes.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Fairtex wants to stall.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Capitan Fairtex.
Cruz pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Cruz keeps the fight on the outside.
Fairtex sets himself, and Cruz steps forward looking for the clinch! Fairtex avoids it this time.

Cruz gets in close and instigates a clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Cruz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Cruz wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Fairtex wants to break free but Cruz has control.
Carter Cruz seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Cruz wants to break free but Fairtex has control.
Cruz wants to break the clinch but can't.
Fairtex can't break the clinch.
Cruz stalling against the ropes.
Cruz is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the ropes.
Cruz struggles to land a body shot inside as Fairtex controls his hands.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fairtex goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Carter Cruz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Capitan Fairtex is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cruz misses with an elbow over the top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Carter Cruz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Fairtex has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Capitan Fairtex!