Former Shoot Boxing Japan Women’s Flyweight Champion Ai Takahashi earned her third straight win tonight at Shoot Boxing 2013: Act.3 in Tokyo, Japan. Takahashi defeated Korean opponent Yuri Kim with a first-round standing guillotine choke after dominating the action in the brief fight.
Also tonight, Lorena “Lady Pitbull” Klijn avenged a past loss by defeating “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi in a closely-contested rematch. In JKS48 quarterfinal bouts, Michi Nakamura and Comachi advanced on in the 48kg high school girls’ tournament by defeating Mari and Anna Murayama, respectively.
Takahashi (15-4-0 SB/KB) was aggressive right away and she backed Kim (0-1-0 SB) into a corner with knees. Takahashi locked on a standing guillotine choke to earn a Catch Point, but Kim managed to pull her head free as Takahashi landed more knees. Takahashi flurried with punches that dropped Kim to her knees, then locked on another standing guillotine. Kim could not escape the second choke and the bout was stopped at the 2:12 mark of round one, giving Takahashi the technical submission victory.
Klijn (3-1-0 SB) got off to a strong start by earning two Shoot Points for a suplex throw in round one. Both fighters landed punches and knees and Yamaguchi (7-5-0 SB) tried for a throw of her own. Yamaguchi scored with a hard flurry in the second round and Klijn answered with jumping knees. Klijn twisted her ankle late in the round, but she fought on and continued to press the action with knees in round three. Yamaguchi responded with a counter combination shortly before the bell, but Klijn had done just enough to take the win on the scorecards. All three judges saw the bout 28-27 in Klijn’s favour.
Following the fight, it was announced that Klijn will face three-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion Rena Kubota during the 2013 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Japan Midsummer Festival event on August 3rd. The bout between Kubota and Klijn will be a non-tournament fight.
In the B Block of the JKS48 high school girls’ tournament, Nakamura and Comachi put on impressive performances in their respective quarterfinal bouts. Nakamura used quick punching combinations and kicks to outpoint Mari en route to a Unanimous Decision victory with scores of 30-29 and 30-28 twice. Comachi battered Murayama with kicks and big punches, then secured a Shoot Point in round two with a high-arc throw. Comachi cruised a Unanimous Decision win with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-28.
Nakamura and Comachi join A Block winners Mio Tsumura and Yuuki Kira in the semi-final round of the JKS48 tournament, which also takes place on August 3rd. The semi-final winners will then face off to determine this year’s JKS48 champion later in the night.
Article updated with additional information for August 3rd event.
(Photo Credit: Shoot Boxing)