4pm local would be 2am my time...and that's Friday night into Saturday morning? Might have yourself a deal. I've got Lil Butt on Sat but not until about noon after his karate belt test.
He is certainly a step up in class from Slugger's previous best opposition (which is probably...idk, Kobayashi? Despite not having the prettiest record of Kurihara's opponents)
Kurihara's last couple of bouts... vs. Ponpitak (aka Ruaviking): This content is protected vs. Parrenas: This content is protected and vs. Lumacad in 2017, a bonus from the vault: This content is protected He's no mindless brawler, that much is clear. He is pretty useful at stalking behind the jab and picking his spots ...at least to start out, then he gets randier (and wilder) the more he successively lands. Against certain levels of fighter that's enough to hit the home run, but Takuma is another matter...
Inoue's own last few bouts... vs. Oubaali: This content is protected vs. Salapat (aka Sor Chitpattana aka Petch CP Freshmart): This content is protected vs. Yap: This content is protected He knows how to not get tagged up, but...for some reason he gets into these lazy spells and winds up letting beaucoup shots find him that he probably shouldn't. He'll need to be careful to watch that, as the punches from his countryman will be a lot straighter and rangier than were the French southpaw's, the Pinoy southpaw's, or the orthodox Pinoy ^.
It's a shame Boxing Raise / Dangan haven't allowed public sharing of the Kurihara Vs Kobayashi bout, genuinely a great fight. Kobayashi down 4 times and only loses by a gnats ass. All sorts of time keeping issues with it adding a lot of controversy.
This is a good fight and it'll come down how much Inoue has improved since his last fight. He's a well rounded fighter, a very good boxer with nice footwork and a pretty decent jab but he also lacked strength, power and confidence/self belief in the past. He had Oubaali in trouble late but couldn't get him out of there and lost a wide decision. He was just too easy to back up and gave away a lot of rounds too easily - even prior Oubaali he had some close decisions over guys like Yap or Masuda. If we see the "old" Takuma i think Kurihara is super live here and might win this on points or even get a stoppage at some point. Kurihara is heavy handed and has big frame for the weight class. He's also rangy. I can see him having plenty of success with his style here if Takuma is still fighting like he did in the past. Going with a close Inoue Decision here banking on improvements in his game, otherwise Kurihara by TKO or wide Decision, dominating a lot of rounds. Really, really good fight. Kurihara is much better than his record suggests. I think he started like 3-4 or so in his first 7 fights and since then went 12-1 with the only loss to heavy handed and powerful Teshigawara who is still a Top 15 SBW. Anyway, i think people have no clube about Kurihara, his style and power and just picking or going with Inoue because of his name. Kurihara is a stiff test for a guy who was out since late 2019. Of course Kurihara also coming off a long layoff, he might lost some momentum after winning 6 or 7 in a row with that layoff too, so interesting to see how the layoff affects both guys.
An Inoue decision in the UK is now evens, money continues to go on an Inoue T/KO/DQ win. Nothing at all from Kurihara's camp suggesting anything like that, or even suggesting Takuma was going for the KO. Seen someone mention they Takuma was working with Naoya in an S&C camp, but that happens EVERY FIGHT, whilst Kurihara has been working with an S&C coach for the first time. Inoue has stated he's going to box his style, which has never shown any serious hunger for a KO, whilst Kurihara has come out and stayed he IS looking for a KO. Very odd
I love Japanese Boxing im really excited for this scrap, I think the early part of the fight will be dangerous and Kurihara will probably take the early rounds but Inoue once he gets down Kurihara's timing will land that beautiful short counter right and tie up and go to the body and win on points but I expect it to be a back and forth bout where both fighters will display a lot of heart.
Kurihara by stoppage, I watched footage of him at the beginning of the month, and he's clearly operating on a higher level than most of Takuma's opponents, and thus far, I've yet to be impressed by the younger and uglier Inoue. I think Kurihara stylistically is going to be an issue for him, he's accurate, brings intelligent pressure, is heavy handed, throws nice crisp combos and packs a punch. Not to mention he's bigger. Not saying he's on Oubaali's level, but just that he poses a different set of problems, that I don't think Inoue quite ready for.
Just here to screencap the poll results so jerks voting after the fact can be named and shamed later. (since it doesn't close until noon Eastern) I see there is a new post from this morning but haven't read it; wish me luck avoiding spoilers until Sunday.
