Tokyo Adrift: Munroe Goes Down Heavily On The Cards To Japanese Speed King
Toshiaki Nishioka turned back the challenge of Leicester’s Rendall Munroe in Tokyo on Saturday evening, battling his way to a unanimous decision victory in a bout which was a tad tougher than the judge’s cards would suggest. Not that there was anything amiss in the scoring mind you. Unanimous tallies of 119-109 were bang on the money, rather it was tough in the sense that Nishioka had to dig deep into his toolbox to repel what was a plenty game effort from Munroe.
As the fighters killed time throughout the various announcements, Munroe stood stock still and observed with interest as Nishioka turned, pivoted and span his way around his own little patch of ring. It was a precursor of what he was to encounter at close hand throughout the course of the fight as Nishioka showed just what a canny little operator he has become in this, his 44th contest.
Munroe began well. Keen to establish himself from the get go he stalked Nishioka relentlessly, attempting to crank up the trademark combinations which had helped carry him half way around the world and into this, the biggest fight of his life. Nishioka, though, showed excellent movement, especially when Rendall attempted to trap him against the ropes. In an instant, the Japanese would pirouette his way out of danger before returning fire, always threatening harm with his mighty left hand wallop.
Nishioka edged the first three rounds by slender margins, his greater accuracy and movement grabbing him the points. Rendall showed a good ability to block punches from behind a high and tight guard but catching rather than slipping was stymieing his own punch output. Despite his lead, Nishioka looked tired as he sat on his stool between rounds whilst Munroe, smiling as he advanced on his man, appeared to be growing in confidence.
The fourth round appeared to be the turning point in the fight. Munroe kept pumping out punches and, although many of them were reduced to cuffs and glancing shots due to Nishioka’s darting elusiveness, the cat looked to have leaped clean out of the bag. At 34, one began to wonder whether the home fighter, now distinctly ruffled, could stave off the rampaging Englishman for the remainder of the fight.
Round five brought the answer thudding home as an apparently unravelling Nishioka fired off a rapid volley of shots which rocked Munroe and forced him to cover up against the ropes. Rendall recovered well and quickly began returning fire, yet his forward momentum has been ruined and the shrewd Nishioka assumed command of the fight.
Munroe toiled away regardless yet, unable to pin Nishioka down long enough to really tee off on him and, clearly more wary of his opponent’s power, the foothold he so desperately required to drag himself into the fight remained just out of reach.With his threat now clearly established, Nishioka used it to pave the way for some forward advancement and he slammed home crackling body punches in the seventh. Each time Munroe appeared to be on the verge of gathering momentum, Nishioka had a move or a punch to block him off. It was intelligent stuff.
Whilst clearly behind as they entered into the fight’s final third, there was always a sense that Munroe could get himself back into the bout. He was losing widely on the cards but was only losing each session by a smidgen. A miraculous turnaround was not to be on this night, though. Nishioka opened his afterburners over the fight’s final quarter, leading Rendall a merry dance around the Tokyo ring before slamming home power shots to body and head. The visitor came under an extended fuselage of lighting fast punches against the strands in the final round and had to hang tough in order to ride it out. It was Nishioka’s exclamation point on a performance of real quality.
Munroe was quick to congratulate the world titlist in his corner, offering him a one word critique which summed up his own evening’s troubles quite well: “fast”. After the scorecards were announced, Munroe broke down in tears. This most likeable of chaps had given his all, yet the gulf in quality between himself and the man who heads up this division was too great to bridge.
Nishioka is in the form of his life and can go on winning for a time yet you would imagine. Munroe meanwhile can rebound and I’d give him a very decent chance against other, less competent alphabet titlists in this weight category. Warrior of the Kokugikan to working man of Leicester, Munroe must now take a leaf from Nishioka’s book and come again.
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Duotone by Automattic.
