Four-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion Rena Kubota posted her 13th straight win on Sunday night at the 2014 Shoot Boxing World S-Cup in Tokyo, Japan. Kubota narrowly edged out 19-year-old Dutch standout Isis “Fight Queen” Verbeek in a featured non-title bout on the main card.
Kubota picked up a much-needed Shoot Point in the opening round of her close fight against Verbeek, which proved to be the difference maker on the scorecards after three hard-fought rounds. Elsewhere on the card, Akari “Union” Nakamura earned a Unanimous Decision win over Arisa Hoshiki.
Kubota (29-5-1 SB/KB) countered an early flurry of punches from Verbeek (40-5-1 SB/KB) with a hip toss attempt, but she was unable to throw Verbeek high enough to earn a Shoot Point. The fighters traded punches and Verbeek landed a quick leg kick. Kubota clinched and scored a crucial Shoot Point with a high-arc throw. Late in the round, Kubota threw a front kick, but Verbeek caught it and attempted a throw. She got Kubota down, but earned no points for the low-arc hip toss.
Verbeek opened round two with more leg kicks and Kubota threw her to the ground. No points were given and the fighters traded punches on the feet. Verbeek landed a knee to the body and followed with a combination. Kubota walked her down with punches and a front kick. She followed with two lunging hooks and clinched again. Both women landed knees to the body and Kubota nearly suplexed Verbeek to the mat, but Verbeek defended well and the bell sounded seconds later.
The final round began with an exchange of leg kicks and Verbeek continued to score with knees in the clinch. She threw Kubota to the mat, but not well enough to earn a Shoot Point. Kubota landed a left hook that was answered by a punch-kick combo from Verbeek. Big punches were exchanged soon after and Kubota clinched. She hip tossed Verbeek, but the throw was not quite high enough to earn a point. The fighters continued to battle for throws in the clinch and Kubota finished the round with a flying knee.
At the end of three rounds, one judge scored the fight even at 29-29. The remaining two both sided with Kubota and returned scores of 30-29. Kubota took a Majority Decision victory as a result, but she appeared to be very disappointed with her performance following the fight. Nevertheless, the highly popular Kubota has now won 13 straight bouts and she remains one of the world’s best shoot boxers.
Winner: Rena Kubota by Majority Decision (30-29, 30-29, 29-29) after three 3:00 rounds. She improves her combined shoot boxing and kickboxing record to 29-5-1.
Nakamura (10-6-1 SB/KB) landed a series of punches in the opening round of her bout against Hoshiki (1-1-0 SB) and she countered Hoshiki’s kicks with a throw attempt. Hoshiki defended, but Nakamura dropped her with a left cross. Hoshiki was given a standing count and Nakamura attempted another throw when action resumed, but the throw was not high enough to earn her a Shoot Point.
Nakamura tried to throw Hoshiki to the canvas again in the second round, but Hoshiki thwarted her on two occasions. The fighters traded punches and Hoshiki landed knees in close. Nakamura worked for a throw, but Hoshiki defended on the way down and she landed on Nakamura’s back. The round ended with an exchange of punches and knees.
In round three, Nakamura caught a kick and she swept out Hoshiki’s leg. The trip did not earn her any points and the fight continued with a clinch battle against the ropes. Nakamura landed a combination and nearly scored two Shoot Points with a pair of throws, but neither one was quite high enough. In the final 30 seconds, the fighters traded power punches on the feet and Hoshiki briefly wobbled Nakamura, but Nakamura fired back with a lengthy flurry before the bell.
All three judges scored the bout for Nakamura, who continued her impressive streak of wins in 2014.
Winner: Akari Nakamura by Unanimous Decision (30-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three 2:00 rounds. She improves her combined shoot boxing and kickboxing record to 10-6-1.
(Photo Credit: Shoot Boxing)