Yukari Yamaguchi Joins 2014 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup LineupThis year’s Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup event will once again include two separate tournaments featuring many of the top female shoot boxers and kickboxers in the world. The 2014 tournaments are set to take place on August 2nd at Yamano Hall in the Yoyogi district of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.

Highly-touted prospect Yukari Yamaguchi will participate in a four-woman all-Japan Girls S-Cup tournament. Yamaguchi joins two-time JKS48 champ Mio Tsumura and “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi in the 48kg Girls S-Cup. The August 2nd event also includes a worldwide Girls S-Cup featuring Rena Kubota.

Already one of the fastest-rising young stars in Japan, Yukari Yamaguchi (1-0-0 pro KB, 12-2-0 amateur SB/KB) now makes her professional shoot boxing debut at the sport’s largest all-female event of the year. The 16-year-old teammate of MMA prodigy and two-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup 53.5kg champ Mizuki Inoue kicked off her professional combat sports career this past month by destroying Megumi Igawa in a 68-second kickboxing match. In her most recent amateur shoot boxing bout, Yamaguchi earned a dominant TKO victory in November. She is one of the most talented female strikers in Japan.

Joining Yamaguchi in the “48kg Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Japan” tournament is two-time Shoot Boxing JKS48 high school girls’ tournament champ Mio Tsumura (12-1-0 SB) and Mei Yamaguchi (8-5-0 SB), who advanced to the finals of the Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup tournaments in 2009 and 2012. Tsumura has followed in the footsteps of mentor and teammate Rena Kubota and is now one of the biggest stars on the shoot boxing roster. Yamaguchi has primarily focused on her MMA career during the past year, but she is a true veteran of the Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cups.

The 48kg all-Japan tournament will feature a total of four competitors and will be contested all in one night. The fourth and final participant has not yet been revealed.

 

In addition to the Japan-only tournament, the August 2nd event will also feature a worldwide Girls S-Cup that includes three-time winner Rena Kubota (25-5-1 SB/KB), who is one of the faces of shoot boxing. The 23-year-old superstar is one of the most skilled female shoot boxers in the world and she brings a nine-fight winning streak into this year’s tournament. Other fighters who are expected to compete in the worldwide tournament include Girls S-Cup veterans Lorena “Lady Pitbull” Klijn (3-2-0 SB) and Christina Jurjevic (0-2-0 SB). The one-night tournament is slated to include a total of eight competitors.

Former Shoot Boxing Japan Women’s Flyweight Champion Ai Takahashi (20-5-0 SB/KB) and J-Girls Bantamweight Champion Madoka Jinnai (15-5-0 KB) will also compete on next month’s card. Takahashi is set to take part in a non-tournament bout. Jinnai will most likely compete in one of the Girls S-Cup tournaments, but her exact standing on the card has not yet been clarified.

The 2014 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup takes place on August 2nd at Yamano Hall in the Yoyogi district of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Akira Ishii, Gravity)