Ryōta Murata vs. Emanuele Felice Blandamura & Daigo Higa vs. Cristofer Rosales González RBR

In all honesty Emmy deserves a lot of respect for hanging in this long. His entire body from the neck down to his waistband has been lobster-red since like the 2nd.

 

Round 7

Blandamura is finding a bit of moxie to command a little space in the center of the ring and fortify it with a triple jab. Murata watches, more bemused than anything, letting Blandamura gain false confidence, reaching in with his own jab and letting Blandamura "scare him off" with his own jab in multiples. Clearly this is a lulling tactic by Murata, his pace has been so measured I figure there's 0% chance he is really punched out but with adrenaline clouding his brain maybe Blandamura will be gullible enough to buy it. Murata is shaving the widow's peak of Blandamura with the jab, standing off at mid-range. Blandamura throwing more jabs but coming up short with them, not fully committing and stepping all the way in.

10-9 Murata, very close, one could actually give it to Blandamura since Murata took most of it off.

70-63 Murata

 

Atlas has it 69-64 Murata.

 

17th, actually.

 

Alright, moment of truth, Murata has to end it this round to maintain his "killer" image, or else he risks failing to meet the par set by much lighter hitters BJS and Soro..

 

Round 8

Blandamura is jabbing the body with a backhanded flick while crouching partway in, then reeling out and circling wide. Murata is pushing the left jab out, leaving it hung in midair, then slamming down with a right hand across the head. Left hook on the body from Murata, making Blandamura wince. Murata is jabbing the head of Blandamura, finding him no matter how many directional changes. Blandamura is bopping around the ring in zigzags, jumping in to clinch - all to no avail. Ref on top of breaks. Murata on top of Blandamura with stiff jabs. BIG RIGHT CROSS on the face as Blandamura sits on the ropes. He darts to his right and Murata is waiting, timing him with another straight right hand lead. Blandamura is hit flush and down to his knees. Going to be saved by the bell, perhaps? Nope, even as he gets up Raul Caiz Sr. waves, has seen enough.

TKO8!!