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

Even if he sweeps the next eight and takes it 9-3, struggling this badly early with a guy I honestly don't rate means that Ioka might want to consider retiring (for real this time).

 

Round 5

Rodríguez is advancing in herky-jerky fits & starts, throwing sandbag overhand right feints, unconvincingly, Ioka not biting, just circling and jabbing, and then exploding with crosses on the face and hooks on the body when Rodríguez wanders into range. Rodríguez having a hard time getting anything to stick, firing off three consecutive uppercuts after marching up to Ioka, missing the first two with the last ricocheting off his arms.

10-9 Ioka

48-47 Rodríguez

 

Round 6

Rodríguez is poking jabs into the air following Ioka from corner to corner. Ioka skipping laterally to avoid the ropes and reaching in & down with body hooks while pulling his neck away from Rodríguez's flurries rather than blocking with his idle glove. Nice counter rights over the top by Ioka when Rodríguez comes lunging in. Ioka's edges in footwork and precision starting to make themselves clearer. Rodríguez just wading in, sometimes dragging his rear foot, and hurling bombs, many at half-speed as he grows arm-weary, missing almost everything. Ioka dancing around throwing pot shot jabs and straight rights at the head.

10-9 Ioka

57-57