Round 1: 10-9 Mthalane close Round 2: 10-9 Kuroda close Round 3: 10-9 Kuroda close Round 4: 10-9 Kuroda close Round 5: 10-9 Mthalane Round 6: 10-9 Mthalane close Round 7: 10-9 Mthalane Round 8: 10-9 Mthalane close Round 9: 10-9 Mthalane Round 10: 10-9 Mthalane Round 11: 10-9 Mthalane Round 12: 10-9 Kuroda close Great last round from both fighters. Back and forth action for three minutes. Both landing bombs. I think Kuroda edged it on activity, but could be another Mthalane round aswell. 116-112 Mthalane I think fair range of scorecards is 118-110 Mthalane to 115-113 Mthalane.
Kuroda getting a standing ovation as he walks to his dressing room. Told y'all. Give it about ten months and we're going to see him commentating a fight sitting next to Yaegashi.
Which is a perfectly fine scorecard. I had it 118-110 as well but by a different route than CST's, because there were some damn close rounds early.
I miss Akira. I'm still really sad he and Ioka never had a rematch, especially considering the longevity of high-level success both enjoyed for so long afterward. I'm torn as to which "Japanese domestic rematch that never materialized" tops my list of disappoints, actually, between Ioka vs. Yaegashi II and Uchiyama vs. Miura II (aka Takashi Bowl 2.0)