On the evening of December 31, 2021, Beijing time, in the 33rd stage of the RIZIN (Thor) tournament held at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, the well-known Japanese mixed martial artist Mirai Asakura defeated former RIZIN lightweight champion Saito Hiroshi in a unanimous 3-0 decision in the second match.
The two boxers had their first showdown in the LIGHTWEIGHT World Boxing Title Battle at the RIZIN (Thor) tournament last November. In the match at that time, Saito yu won the match with a unanimous decision of 3-0, becoming the first champion of the LIGHTWEIGHT class of the RIZIN (Thor) event. After the victory, Saito Hiroshi also successfully defended his title this year, defeating challenger Vigar Karalamov in June to defeat challenger Vigar Karalamov in a 2-1 split decision at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. However, in October of this year, Saito Yu was defeated by the lightweight champion of the DEEP event, Ushi kusataro, in the form of a TKO, losing the title.
Both Mirai Asakura and Hiroshi Saito see the two-time battle as an opportunity for their comeback.
In the first round of the match, Asakura Mirai entered the state first, and from the beginning of the match, Asakura Mirai took the initiative to put pressure on Saito Hiroshi and blocked Saito Hiroshi in the corner of the ring. Saito Hiroshi tried to fight back, but was basically defended by Asakura Mirai.
In the second leg of the match, Asakura Still tries to suppress Saito Hiroshi, but Saito Hiroshi fights back without fear and begins to punch the imposing Asakura Mirai with his piercing punches. The two exchanged punches very frequently during this round, and during the change of punches Saito's nose was broken and began to bleed.
In the third leg of the match, both began to decline in physical fitness, and the injured Saito Hiroshi was particularly serious. However, in the face of Asakura's future pursuit, Saito Hiroshi showed strong willpower. Repeatedly, before it seemed to be about to be crushed, he burst out of the predicament with powerful energy.
Towards the end of the match, amid the shouts of the coaching teams of both sides, Both Saito and Mirai Asakura squeezed out the last of their physical reserves and attacked their opponents. At the end of a minute left in the game, Mirai Asakura hit Saito in the face with a top-knee technique.
In the end of the match, all three referees on the scene decided that Asakura Mirai had an absolute advantage, and finally Asakura Mirai defeated Saito Hiroshi 3-0 to win the game.
At the press conference after the game, Hiroshi Saito, who lost the game, was very disappointed, and told reporters that it was not good to lose the game. I will summarize it well when I go back. As for his opponent Asakura Mirai, Saito Yu commented to reporters: "On the whole, Asakura Mirai's blows in today's game are very powerful. It made me feel like I couldn't control it, so I needed to look at the game again when I went back and see how I would adjust it later. At the same time, Saito Yu also made it clear that he had no plans to play against Asakura in the near future.
As the winner of the competition, Mirai Asakura was very relaxed in the post-match press conference. He told reporters at the scene that he was going to climb the "apex" of lightweight again. In addition, in the interview, Asakura Also expressed a strong desire to fight Brazilian boxer Kleber Koike Erbst in a second-time battle. Previously, in the 28th edition of RIZIN (Thor) held in June this year, Mirai Asakura was demoted by Kleber Koike Ernst using a triangle lock. Since then, Asakura Mirai has always wanted revenge.
In the early morning of January 1, 2022, Beijing time, Asakura Mirai, who returned home, updated his Twitter. In a New Year's address to boxing fans, Mirai Asakura wrote:
"No matter what others say, in 2022 I will take on all kinds of challenges! ”
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