Tape Delay Kickboxing 10: RISE 164 - 2023-01-28
The first major kickboxing show of 2023 is here as RISE has three champions in action including P4P #5 Kazuki Osaki. No spoilers, free on Youtube!
This series shall, where possible, allow you to watch the shows in order as if you were watching live, without spoilers.
Beyond Kickboxing event calendar: https://beyondkick.com/schedule
RISE 164 - 2023-01-28
Korakuen Hall, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
RISE kicks off their “RISE 20 YEARS 2003-2023” celebration year with a title fight and two international challenges. Next month, two shows in one day!
In the main event, “Korean Devil” Chanhyeong Lee tries to make the second defense of his RISE Super Feather title. It’s difficult for me to follow the timeline, but my understanding is that he won it at RISE 121 in November 2017 over Kodai Nobe, had several fights in RISE and other promotions, lost 4 fights in a row in 2019, then did not fight again until he returned to make the first defense of his title at RISE 160 in July. To be fair to him, in that 5 year gap he did not fight another fight at the 60 kg weight limit, he simply fought 9 times at weights above 60 kg.
Lee’s opponent is “Star Of The SHIBUYA” Hyuma Hitachi, who, according to RISE’s site, has base styles of Taekwondo and soccer, and his hobby is listed as “sauna.” He started his career 2-2-1 but has since won 7 in a row since 2020 including 6 KOs. His most recent win was over Yuki Kasahara over in Shoot Boxing in September.
The co-main event features the Beyond Kick Pound-for-Pound #5 ranked fighter in the world, “Gentle Monster” Kazuki Osaki, in a non-title contest in the Super Fly division. He is on a 14-fight win streak dating back to 2019. His last bout was a majority decision over Kazane Nagai in the main event of the RISE October show.
Also fighting is RISE Fly champion “Explosive Jetman” Toki Tamaru, and his fight is also non-title and takes place in the Super Fly division. 20-year-old Tamaru won the inaugural belt in October over Riku Kazushima, despite being on two straight losses including the loss of his Super Fly title to Osaki. He dislikes insects.
Both RISE champions are taking on Thai fighters from the Boomdeksian gym, Osaki facing Mangkon and Tamaru facing 17-year-old Khunsuknoi. The Boomdeksian gym was founded by Boom Dek Sian, who is described as a “veteran gambler” and appears on the Netflix Muay Thai documentary series “Hurts Like Hell” in the gambling episode. The gym also appears in articles talking about the many fighting children it produces, most famously twin boys Yodpet Ek and Yodpet Oh, who started boxing at age 7. Yodpet Ek, by the end of 2022 when he was 13 years old, had a record of 70-9-2.
The fights have commentary this time, but do not have graphics including a clock. Fights highlighted in bold were ones that I found particularly entertaining.
Tsubasa Wakahara (3-3-1) (TEAM TEPPEN) vs. Ryoma Takeuchi (1-1, 1 KO) (Shinjuku Lefty Gym) (121)
“Shy Boy” Yuto Nomura (4-0, 4 KO) (GONG-GYM Sakado / Stand up Amateur vol.4 General Division A-Class Tournament 60kg winner) vs. Koki Shiratori (3-1, 3 KO) (Seido Kaikan KCIEL) (127)
Shota Takigami (5-0, 2 KO) (Seiku Kaikan/ACCEL Heavy champion) vs. Artty Fellowgym (40-17-3) (FELLOWGYM) (192)
Kenichi Takeuchi (28-11-2) (TenCloverGym Setagaya / 4th Bigbang Feather champion) vs. Masamitsu Kutsuwa (6-5, 2 KO) (TBF / 9 + nine plus lab. / DEEP ☆ KICK 55kg #6 ranked) (127)
#6 “Donkey Kong of Saitama” SEIDO (15-23-2, 4 KO) (LARA TOKYO) vs. #9 “Super Sparking Knuckle” Shigeki Fujii (5-2, 1 KO) (Team +1) (132)
#11 Hirokatsu Miyagi (10-9-2, 4 KO) (Sekiunkai / former TENKAICHI Welter & Middle champion) vs. “Snake on Ogre” Masaya Jaki (11-8-2, 5 KO) (Team Amano Katsuobushi / former NKB Welter champion) (154)
(C) “Explosive Jetman” Toki Tamaru (12-3, 2 KO) (TRY HARD GYM / RISE Fly champion, former RISE Super Fly champion) vs. Khunsuknoi Boomdeksian (69-19-4) (Thailand / Boomdeksian / Chomrom muayesan 112-pound champion) (117 Non-Title)
(C) P4P #5 “Gentle Monster” Kazuki Osaki (37-5-2, 18 KO) (OISHI GYM / RISE Super Fly champion) vs. Mangkon Boomdeksian (80-34-6) (Thailand / Boomdeksian / Chomrom muayesan 108-pound champion) (117 Non-Title)
(C) “Korean Devil” Chanhyeong Lee (28-12-1, 15 KO) (RAON) vs. #2 “Star Of The SHIBUYA” Hyuma Hitachi (9-2-1, 7 KO) (TARGET SHIBUYA) (5R 132 Super Feather Title)