Rounds 1-5 Tactical chess match Shibata is sharp! Ben not able to get in range and every time he does shibata’s handspeed lands 3-5 and steps back out of range. Circling though not running or avoiding just outboxing Ben early. 2 every time Ben tries to throw Shibata times and counters perfectly and steps back. 3 Shibata begins to work the jab and this is a slow round, Ben lands a couple of jabs late but Shibata takes just about every exchange and there are few of them. 4 Shibata’s is to quick for Ben at this stage, he controls the round with foot speed getting in and out, and hand speed combination countering anything Ben throws. 5 Ben looks a little better this round and his jab scores well over the last minute+ of the round. Shibata still has the quicker hands but Ben gets out of range. Close round and first I scored for Villaflor Shibata 24-21 or 49-46
Philly, I scored this one a while back. Here is how I had it and the notes I made at the end. Round 1: 5-5 Even Round 2: 5-4 Shibata Round 3: 5-4 Shibata Round 4: 5-4 Shibata Round 5: 5-5 Even Round 6: 5-4 Shibata Round 7: 5-4 Villaflor Round 8: 5-4 Villaflor Round 9: 5-4 Shibata Round 10: 5-4 Villaflor Round 11: 5-5 Even Round 12: 5-4 Villaflor Round 13: 5-4 Shibata Round 14: 5-4 Villaflor Round 15: 5-4 Shibata Total: 70-68 Shibata. The fight would have lulls, but then they would explode with some good combos. I liked the 11th round best. Decent fight. Not spine-tingling but decent.
Rounds 6-10 Finally in round 6 a fight breaks out...no brawl, but more engaging from 6-10. 6 Ben throws more but still is not applying any real pressure. He seems to do better when it gets in close and more punches are thrown, but he does not seem fully engaged? He takes the first half Shibata the 2nd making a tough close rd to score. 7 lot more infighting with Ben landing bigger shots, and Shibata quicker ones another tough round to score but Ben has creeped to 1 on my card. 8 another close round with Ben jabbing one punch at a time and Shibata countering quickly and working the body good. Close round edge Shibata 9 slow round both guys needing a breather or getting tired and conserving energy. Ben with a nice jab but not aggressive enough and Shibata patiently picking his spots with no pressure. Close inactive but Shibata for me. 10 Ben pumping the jab but it is almost like a retreating flicking jab with no power on it...almost as if he is tired of being countered every time he throws. Ben edging the round Shibata comes on hard the last 30 seconds? Enough to steal the round? Not on my card, but I can see it. Shibata 46-44 or 96-94 on my card
Well we have the first 10 rounds just about right! I do think 6-10 were tight to score. You have 1 & 5 Even I have 1 for each guy. You have 6 Shibata and 8 Ben I have them the opposite but leading us to a similar score. Not a war but a fun tactical battle so far. I wish Ben would yo the tempo, because Shibata looks real comfortable and patient in there. Not scoring this and just looking at it, I would guess Shibata to be farther ahead.
Rounds 11-15 are fun to watch but not fun or easy to score IMO. I could see any but the 14th and 15th being scored for either guy. Some good action not quite a brawl, but Villaflor definitely steps up the pressure. Not sure why he waited so long to do so? To me he gave the fight away during the first 4 rounds. If he fought like the final 11 rounds I would have him winning 7-4 instead of losing 8-7. Shibata is a guy I think would do well against any stalker boxer/puncher types that don’t bring a lot of pressure. When he is comfortable he is sharp.
Looks like we had a handful different but not a lot really and I do think there are 8 closely contested rounds. You had 1 and 5 Even I had it Shibata and Vilaflor, so our cards line up. You had 6 Shibata and 8 Vilaflor I did just the opposite but again our cards live up. You had 11 even and 13 Shibata I had 11 Shibata and 13 Villaflor So in our 6 contentious rounds (I think they were tough to score), you had Shibata 2-1-3 and I had 3-3. Close tough fight to score. I think Ben could have won if he hadn’t coasted early. RBR 1 Shibata 2 Shibata 3 Shibata 3 Shibata 5 Villaflor 6 Villaflor 7 Villaflor 8 Shibata 9 Shibata 10 Villaflor 11 Shibata 12 Villaflor 13 Villaflor 14 Villaflor 15 Shibata Shibata 68-67 or 143-142
The Japanese videos from this era are mostly all crystal clear, while finding a good one from anywhere else is iffy at best. That old Japanese technology
YES HAND IT TO THE JAPANESSE. Isaw SHIBATA VS SALDIVAR...WOW SHIBATA HAS A BETTER BUILD THAN MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Shibata was a real skilled, speedy fighter. Great to watch, and a bit forgotten. Big Ben was a bit slow to action, which cost him here. He didn't make that mistake in the rematch.
