Kazuto Ioka vs. José Francisco Rodríguez Tamayo & Yuichiro Kasuya vs. Aso Ishiwaki RBR

In what way? Physically rougher?

 

Ah. Well, no, in the sense that I had the underdog actually beating the p4p ranked A-side in that one, if narrowly (114-113 Derevyanchenko was my card) and had the champ retaining by the skin of his teeth here...but it was numerically as close as it possibly gets (without Ioka theoretically being docked a point) but it felt incredibly fraught and tense. In rounds 11&12 when he rallied I started to feel a little more confident about Ioka's chances but didn't think it was a sure thing whatsoever.

 

It got sloppy for long stretches in the middle but yeah worth a watch. Knowing the result will sap a bit of the drama from Rodríguez's early surge banking a lead and then Ioka's gut-check digging late, but it was fun.

 

Really hope Kasuya vs. Ishiwaki gets uploaded at some point.

 

Also really hope to not discover that all was an elaborate phishing scam and my bank account is now depleted.

 

Nihongo speakers - what did the commentators think/say?

Curious to know what Uchiyama's take was on whether this bodes poorly for Ioka's future, being someone that seemingly became shot overnight himself.

Sena Irie looked very nervous when they showed her watching, guessing Ioka ranks among her idols?

 

Not sure about that, had they been any wider then yes, but combing back through I just checked for any more 'budge' rounds to borrow from Peter (that is, Rodríguez) to pay Ioka/Paul...and I actually had Chihuas sweeping the first three, while @CST80 gave Ioka round 1. So give Ioka every round on my card plus the 1st, or every round on CST's plus the 5th & 8th (both close), and you can definitely reach 116-112 for Kazuto.

All three judges being Japanese for an international world title bout on home soil and happening to all have it a smidgen too wide isn't a great look, though.