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THE FOURTH ARSION Women's
Kickboxing: Aya Mitsui vs. Natsumi Nakazawa |
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Mitsui is easily my favorite kickboxer that has appeared on a joshi puroresu shows. What I like the best about her is that it really looks like she's trying to hurt her opponent with each blow. Intensity goes a long way with me when you have the skill to back it up. This was the best kickboxing match I've seen on a joshi puroresu show. It's much better seeing two highly skilled professional kickboxers go at it, especially when they are both champions like these two, than seeing the pro wrestlers try to kickbox. I can see why it's more interesting to see the wrestlers do something different. The thing is, the skill level declines so much when they delve into something else because they just don't have the time to do that much training in other disciplines. The wrestlers kickboxing looks more like what you'd see in a toughwoman contest, in other words crap, so they kind of bore me with their lack of technique even if most of them are less awful than the the Butterball who KO'd Mike BartGunn. This was also a slugfest, but unlike a lot of the wrestlers who throw looping roundhouses, these two can really strike. It was very fast-paced, particularly the first round. At 2:00, Mitsui tried a low kick, but Nakazawa punched her in the face for the knockdown. Nakazawa immediately raised her hands in the air in celebration. Mitsui wasn't done yet though. When Mitsui got up, she motioned to Nakazawa with her arm as if to say, "come and get it." This ignited the best exchange of the match, as Mitsui was throwing as fast and as hard as she could, just determined to knock Nakazawa down. Nakazawa was answering her though, so it was just a great flurry of action! Mitsui wound up with a bloody nose from all this. Mitsui landed several kicks to the side before finally knocking Nakazawa down with one in the second round. Nakazawa appeared to be in incredible pain, looking sick and coughing before getting up. You could tell Mitsui was licking her chops at the chance to go in for the kill. Nakazawa still had a lot left though, and she had no problem surviving the round. Early in round 3, there was basically a repeat of the knockdown from round 2, except this time it was a knockout. Nakazawa held her ribs like they were broke, grimacing in pain then starting to cough again. Miko: Now this was kickboxing! Not Kumiko Maekawa flopping or Bat Yoshinaga toughgirl boxing, but real kickboxing by two women with skills. Aya Mitsui looked a little faster and stronger than Nakazawa, but it was Natsumi catching Aya in mid kick and knocking her down in the first round. Aya came back strongly, so it obviously was just a flash knockdown. About a minute into the second round you could see that Aya picked up that she was hurting Nakazawa with the kicks to the body, so she kept going back to them. She knocked Natsumi down with a kick to the body, but Nakazawa fought back bravely. That second knock down looked nasty, Nakazawa looked like she was past worrying about beating the 10 count, she was just trying not to throw up. This was the best kickboxing match I've seen at a women's wrestling card, fast paced and excellent action. Jerome: This was a very good and exciting match. Last time Aya Mitsui was on an ARSION show, she pretty much dominated her opponent. This time, the fight would be more intense and challenging. It started very fast in the first round, with both women throwing strikes like crazy. Natsumi punched Aya in the face to counter a low kick and Aya went down. She looked pretty pissed off when she got up and the end of the round was a frenzy of strikes from both sides. The tide turned in the second round, with Aya knocking Natsumi down with a great looking kick to the side. Aya has a light in her eyes when she thinks she's got the advantage that is pretty intimidating. In the beginning of the third round, it seemed like the strikes had taken their toll on Natsumi, who was slower and less active. Aya went for the kill with a brutal kick to the side for a knockout. Natsumi was in a lot of pain, coughing and on the verge of throwing up. Excellent match. Special thanks to: Jerome Denis & Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 0:45 of Round 3 |
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