It was weigh in day. As expected, the tension in the air was palpable. Most of the participants were meeting one another for the first time. That was except for Yumi and Nanaka, along with Minatsu and Lily, whom had previously fought. Yumi was delighted to see Nanaka had made the tournament.
Yumi: I was over the moon when I saw the tv announcement!
Nanaka: Hahah, you were the one that made it hard for me to be here.
Yumi: You beat Tomomi to qualify, right? Was it tough? I fought her a couple months before that.
Nanaka: She was good. But I wasn't going to let myself drop the ball twice.
After making small talk for a while, it was time to weigh in.
MINATSU TAKANO VS SON YUMI
Fighter Physicality Comparison:
Son Yumi
Height: 166cm
Weight: 51kg, 113LB
Reach: 64"
Minatsu Takano
Height: 165cm
Weight: 51kg, 113LB
Reach: 63"
Weight class: Super Flyweight
Both Son Yumi and Minatsu Takano are a perfect blend of agile and powerful physique for the weight class. Much has been made of this being a power has technique match-up. But there appears to be almost no difference in their physiques, although looks can be deceiving. If indeed these two are physically well-matched, the one question of who's the superior boxer still remains. To which we shall find the answer tomorrow evening.
NANAKA SUGIHARA VS MIKA MIHARA
Next up was Nanaka's weigh in against Mika Mihara. Mika was tall, slender, and beautiful. Her reach was 70", which was exceptionally long by any standards.
Fighter Physicality Comparison:
Nanaka Sugihara
Height: 161cm
Weight: 50kg, 112LB
Reach: 61"
Mika Mihara
Height: 171cm
Weight: 51.5kg, 114LB
Reach: 70"
Weight class: Super Flyweight
When it comes to keeping body fat as low as possible, no sporting clubs are as strict as Cheerleader clubs. They know that visuals can be the difference between winning a cheerleader battle or losing it. Cheerleaders often fast for two or three days straight while still spending hours everyday practicing their choreographed routines. And these routines are no walk in the park. Cartwheels, backlfips, full splits, hand stands, at full speed, in perfect synchronization with the others. It is one of the hardest and most athletic disciplines despite being known as simple cheering for other sport teams. It's this discipline that allows Mika to successfully make weight despite being on the larger side for this weight class. Nanaka on the other hand, has great confidence in her core strength due to her street dancing experience. Despite not being the tallest, she has beaten every taller opponent except for Yumi thus far. This will be a fight between two dancers of two different backgrounds. Both dancing disciplines were as fierce and competitive as they come. But there's no competition like fighting.
KARIN MATSUMURA VS LILY YAMATO
Fighter Physicality Comparison:
Karin Matsumura
Height: 161cm
Weight: 50kg, 112LB
Reach: 61"
Lily Yamato
Height: 175cm
Weight: 52kg 115LB
Reach: 70"
Weight class: Super Flyweight
There are two approaches to competing in a weight class. The first is to fight at the closest possible weight to your natural walking weight. This way, a boxer can focus completely on fine-tuning their skills and staying in the best physical condition possible. They will also avoid draining themselves and risking fatigue carrying over into the fight. The second approach is to dominate your opponents through an overwhelming advantage in sheer size. But nothing comes for free. The grueling weight cut can often end up ruining a fighter's camp and negatively affecting their condition on fight night. While Europe and America has plenty of female bantamweights, Japan doesn't have anywhere near enough to create a domestic division, let alone a legitimate belt. Due to that, Lily (and Michelle) have been left with little choice but to fight at a weight that requires them to cut excruciating amounts of weight. Karin Matsumura, on the other hand, has spent her training camp completely focused on devising a strategy to overcome the height and reach discrepancy. She's confident that she can carry out the literal "giant killing" that nobody is betting on.
MICHELLE TYSON VS NORIKO KAMEDA
And last but not least.. It was Noriko Kameda and Michelle Tyson.. Another who performs a miracle every time she cuts down to 52kg. She might not be as tall as Lily. But she carries a significant amount of muscle mass that she has to shred by force every time. Michelle fought her first three professional bouts in the bantamweight division. But the bantamweight division didn't have an All Japan Rookie Tournament due to most females in Japan occupying the flyweight and atomweight divisions.
It was said that Michelle lost consciousness in the sauna while cutting weight for this fight. Will the strenuous weight cut have an impact on her performance tomorrow night?
Fighter Physicality Comparison:
Noriko Kameda
Height: 162cm
Weight: 51kg, 113LB
Reach: 59"
Michelle Tyson
Height: 170cm
Weight: 52kg 115LB
Reach: 67"
Weight class: Super Flyweight
Noriko Kameda has spoken of going toe to toe with Michelle. She said in the press conference that she wasn't intimidated by Michelle at all. Whether she can back that up or not remains to be seen.
But Noriko isn't your every day fighter either. She can punch hard, she has a good jaw, and she does her best work in close-range fights.
Now that the weigh ins were out of the way, all that was left was the fight night itself.
All of the contestants went back home to rehydrate and replenish for tomorrow's fights.
(Episode End)
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