Round 1 Kurihara is using long spearing jabs and feints effectively on the outside and walking Inoue onto shallow looping rights. Lots of frantic jumping in and flurrying off single up-jabs and hooks from a scurrying crouch. Both score body shots on the inside during a brief clinch, separate and both score jabs on the chin simultaneously. There is a clash of heads as they both fire in an exchange slamming together and the champion is cut by the right eye. They call time in and they have no time for anything but some posing and shrugging of their jab arms before the bell rings. 10-9 Kurihara, close
Round 2 Kurihara is throwing a crisp job and backing up as Inoue counters with a slashing hook. Kurihara is dropping a jab on the body and quickly pulling his neck and upper body away from the Inoue jab. Right hand on the body and left hook up top by Kurihara. Inoue floating a jab and stepping to his left. Hard sweeping left hook counter by Inoue past a Kurihara jab. The challenger now in a smooth countering rhythm on his taller opponents, staying inside and lobbing skipping-stone left hooks and overhand rights up past Kurihara's arms into his face. 10-9 Inoue 19-19
Round 3 Kurihara is slashing at the body with hooks and reaching for the head of Inoue with that long jab. Inoue moving, ducking, rising up and flurrying in an undulating and idiosyncratic pattern, hard for Kurihara to pin down and time shots against. Kurihara is also continuously leaking from that cut by the outer corner of his left eye, which is mostly trailing diagonally away down his cheek but plenty is descending straight down to affect his vision. Kurihara with some desperate underhanded volleys of bombs on Inoue's body, chasing him into the ropes. Inoue with a massive lead in head shots landed this round, picking his spots and sharpshooting before ducking and melting away low and to either side. 10-9 Inoue 29-28 Inoue
Round 4 Kurihara lunging in with lead rights as he walks Inoue into the ropes to trap him, but Inoue insinuates himself past the champion and rolls counter rights up into his face on the way by. Kurihara's eye is worsened with every exchange. Inoue is moving in close, letting Kurihara spank his barn doors and shooting up off bent knees to rattle two-pieces off Kurihara's face before ducking away. 10-9 Inoue 39-37 Inoue
Open scoring through four: (OPBF is a WBC affiliate, remember ) 40-36 40-36 39-37 all for Mr. 井上 (Inoue...which I was able to safely verify by going to Naoya's page to avoid using Takuma's name for a search term and thereby possibly stumbling upon spoilers )
Round 5 Kurihara stuffs a hard left hook into the jaw of Inoue, but is countered by one a moment later from the more nimble and sprightly (not to mention fully sighted) challenger, who is getting new angles on him moment by moment with nonstop fleet movement. Lots of ambush counters by Inoue springing up after duck-and-rolls, all one and done, not pausing to admire his work or take a receipt. Kurihara pumping out hard, long right hand leads hoping to pin the proverbial donkey tail on a moving target by chance if nothing else. His best contact is when Inoue hops in close and they brush each other's mandibles with hooks. 10-9 Inoue 49-46 Inoue
Round 6 Inoue is now coming forward, walking down the bigger (but blinder, and slower to begin with) man with line drive jabs from his own chest. Kurihara zigging and zagging on the backfoot but this is clearly not his comfort zone as his unsure footing reports. Inoue leaps up with a 1-2 and dings Kurihara flush on the nose causing him to lean straight backward over the top rope. Proving body jab by Kurihara once things settle down and Inoue takes a break on the outside. Inoue throws a 1-2-3 past a Kurihara lazy jab, missing the first pair but planting himself directly in front of Kurihara to slap up at him with the hook across the kisser. 10-9 Inoue 59-55 Inoue
Round 7 Inoue is stretching up a jab on his toes and grazing Kurihara while skittering by. Kurihara is jabbing just to get a bead on Inoue's location and line up and then drilling in bowling-ball rights on the waistline. Inoue is slipping the jab with exaggerated neck cricks while stepping in toward Kurihara in serpentine fashion, and bashing him with upward trajectory arcing shots. Inoue needling Kurihara with light jabs while ducking under big heavy hooks. 10-9 Inoue 69-64 Inoue
Have a growing feeling this either gets stopped on the cut for an Inoue TD, or Kurihara scores a massive come from behind one punch KO.
Round 8 Kurihara stalking, putting together combos but just swirling both fists in the air and leaving himself overextended as Inoue dances lightly around him and swoops in for the occasional slashing two-piece, falling into clinches when done or propelling himself back outside with his head turtled down. Kurihara with an increased sense of urgency, throwing double and triple tomahawking lefts and straight jabs pressing in, but Inoue too mobile. 10-9 Inoue 79-73 Inoue
Round 9 Kurihara is made to watch the birdie as Inoue shows half a dozen high kneading jab feints several inches from his nose, then suddenly Inoue breaks in, bending leftward and down and planting a huge left hook on Kurihara's side that lands with a wet smack, eliciting a gasp of appreciation from crowd and commentators (and one decidedly less appreciative from the champ). Kurihara marches him down and forces a jab duel, both grazing with the very tips of their knuckles, until Inoue quits that contest and dives in with a hard right on the abs. Inoue launching big 1-2s at the face before he can be trapped in the ropes. Kurihara still approaching, but cautiously, gun-shy with all but the single jab, as Inoue has proven too quick on the draw with counters for anything else. Inoue spirals in close and ducks or dodges several mighty downward swings from Kurihara, while landing gnatlike counters. Nice uppercut by Inoue on the inside after bracing against Kurihara. They pause to inspect the cut...and call it, with just seconds left on the round clock. 10-9 Inoue 89-82 Inoue