The brightest hope of RISE and its most enduring name are set to clash on December 14 in the main event of RISE 194.
The reigning super flyweight champion Ryu Hanaoka has—barring a pair of hiccups against Tsubasa and Jin Mandokoro—quickly established himself as the pre-eminent name in the lower weight classes of the Japanese kickboxing scene. While many have anticipated a clash between him and world super flyweight champion Kazuki Osaki, it has yet to come to fruition, and the young fighter has instead opted to move up to bantamweight to test another veteran.
Masahiko Suzuki, the former bantamweight champion, appeared to be on the downturn of his career until recently, having suffered losses to several top names at his weight—Akihiro Kaneko, Shiro, and Koki Osaki. The past-his-prime veteran, however, has proven he is still a class above most bantamweight fighters, earning three wins in his past four bouts, and he may yet pose problems for the young champion.
The veteran has no delusions about the upcoming fight, having stated: “I expect it will play out with me trying to catch Hanaoka. Hanaoka moves well and has great reflexes, so I'll probably swing and miss. It'll be tough stamina-wise too… My last two fights were tough battles, both mentally and physically. I anticipate this one will be another grueling fight”. All the same he want his last fight of the year to be the start of his climb back to the top: “Winning back the RISE belt is also my current goal, and I know this fight is crucial for that. I can't afford to lose any fight from here on out”.
Hanaoka has been much more dismissive on the other hand: “Lately he's been showing some openings, so I think everyone else is getting cocky and thinking 'Maybe I can take him down too” he said. This doesn’t mean he’s gotten overconfident and lost sight of our pound-for-pound ranked fighter, however. As he explained: “As long as [Osaki] is the –53 kg champion, I feel I have to keep chasing him. If I beat him there, I can say I'm the strongest in Japan, so I'll keep chasing him.”
What will take place on Sunday? Will the youth, speed, and technical outfighting ability of the young champion prevail? Or will the tenacity and power of bantamweight’s longest-reigning champion carry the day? We’ll have our answer in just a couple of days, so be sure to tune in — the event is free to watch courtesy of Abema TV, and the entire card promises to be entertaining.
