Deep Jewels Strawweight Champion Mizuki Inoue was denied a victory in her return to kickboxing competition on Sunday night at “J-Fight & J-Girls 2016 5th” in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue fought to a closely-contested three-round Majority Draw against J-Girls veteran “Crusher” Keiko Matsukawa.

Matsukawa was aggressive with punch-kick combos throughout the fight and she appeared to hold a speed advantage over Inoue, who moved up in weight for the 55kg matchup. Inoue landed hard right hands and finished strong with combinations, but only one judge scored the bout in her favour.

Inoue (5-1-1 KB) and Matsukawa (8-8-1 KB) traded quick punches and body kicks in round one following a cautious opening 30 seconds. Inoue established her jab and snapped Matsukawa’s head back with a crisp right hand. She landed a hard one-two, but Matsukawa countered with left hooks and front kicks. A series of leg kicks and two right hands landed for Matsukawa late in the close round.

Inoue pressed the action with punching flurries in round two, but Matsukawa halted her momentum with a body kick and rushed forward with a lunging combination of her own. Inoue appeared to twist her right ankle and she noticeably slowed down. Matsukawa targeted Inoue’s lead leg with more kicks and both women landed straight right hands in the final 15 seconds.

Matsukawa was very aggressive with punches and body kicks early in the final round, and she backed a retreating Inoue into a corner. Inoue punched her way out and the fighters battled in a brief clinch. Inoue switched to a southpaw stance and landed straight lefts, but Matsukawa was effective with body kicks. The competitive fight ended with Matsukawa landing leg kicks and Inoue firing off combinations.

One judge saw the close bout 30-29 for Inoue, but the remaining two both scored it 29-29 for a Majority Draw. The fight was Inoue’s first professional kickboxing match for J-Girls in more than five years.

(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)