Shooto Middleweight Title on the Line Saturday
Inoue vs. Abe
Jordan Breen Feb 16, 2007
"Lion" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) vs. Hiroyuki Abe
It's hard to imagine that having a young, charismatic and exciting champion could have some drawbacks. But, believe it or not, it can. And in the case of Shooto's 143-pound king "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures), it does.
Undoubtedly, Shooto promoters rejoiced this past May when "Lion"
avenged his first, and so far only, career loss to Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) in devastating fashion, and
picked up the vacant Shooto world lightweight title in the process.
Despite such an outstanding performance, however, something didn't
quite seem right about "Lion" wearing the strap. He'd faced and
beaten some tough fighters since blazing through the 2004 rookie
tournament bracket, but he wasn't a polished product.
No, "Lion" would need to be buffed up a bit.
Sustain put Shooto's aces on display in Yokohama, where "Lion" would again have a chance to shine, this time in front of his hometown crowd. However, promoters clearly attempted to spoon-feed Inoue a little too much, as they imported Sweden's Navid Yousefi (Pictures), who was able to act more as a punching bag than a live body. After a surgical shellacking of the hapless Swede, it was the hope in the hearts of Shooto enthusiasts that "Lion" would step into the ring with another bona fide contender, like he had with Carvalho.
Of course, as fate would have it, Sustain opted to crush those hopes by announcing that "Lion" would have another in-ring exercise, this time with Japanese super-journeyman Hiroyuki Abe.
"Lion" has said that he still feels considerably "young” and that he wants to keep gaining valuable in-ring experience so he can reign as a true champion — an admirable position, if not a bit irritating. He will now have the opportunity to join many a famous face in the division, from Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) to Urijah Faber (Pictures), by walloping the aging "Abe Ani.”
It is important to give some proper reverence to Hiroyuki Abe. He's always been a highly entertaining fighter, and is a genuinely fearless competitor, never backing down from an opponent no matter how dangerous in the ring, or how absurdly overweight on the scales (that means you, Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures)).
He's also emerged as an outstanding trainer, heading up the rapidly growing Abe Ani Combat Club. As well, he is a preeminent member of the Japanese fight community, serving on the executive of ADCC Japan and boasting strong international connections in the fight world. He is also, by all accounts, a swell dude.
The fact remains that Abe just celebrated his 37th birthday, and peaked as a fighter well over four years ago. It would definitely be somewhat of a miracle for him to pull off a win here.
Both men share some residual familiarity with each other. Inoue's friend and teammate Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) faced Abe in his first Class A bout, and laid down an economy-sized spanking. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) has recently relocated to the heart of Tokyo, where he's dedicated himself to training under Abe at AACC. It is a particularly nice perk for Abe, since he'll need all the help he can get.
Inoue is younger, faster, stronger, and has a more outlandish haircut. In Shooto, that is a nearly unbeatable combination. While Abe has always had some pop in his hands, he'll be hard pressed to land anything on Inoue, who has a large reach advantage, and vastly superior striking skills. Inoue should be able to score liberally with low kicks and punch combinations, and bust up Abe. Given his physical advantages, and Abe's penchant for trying to degenerate stand-up battles into bar room brawls, "Lion" should be likely to keep the bout standing, where he should be able to score at will.
However, Inoue's wrestling skills are fairly underrated, and he more than certainly has the option of taking the bout to the mat. While Abe has showed some increased submission skills recently, they've mostly been exercised against hopeless opposition. If "Lion" gets the takedown and secures top position, he should be able to pound with impunity.
Short of the most perfectly placed punch in the history of perfect, "Lion" should smash his way through the bout. There is absolutely no reason, short of warrantless tentativeness, that Inoue shouldn't be able to secure a late stop, especially given Abe's history of cuts. However, if for some reason Abe survives the 15 minutes, expected a lopsided decision for the champ. Hopefully then, promoters can take the training wheels off of the champ, so every Inoue match announcement isn't a large disappointment for fans.
It's hard to imagine that having a young, charismatic and exciting champion could have some drawbacks. But, believe it or not, it can. And in the case of Shooto's 143-pound king "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures), it does.
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No, "Lion" would need to be buffed up a bit.
In July, following his title win, Inoue hopped into the ring with
unheralded Cole Miller
(Pictures), who proved to be both
freakishly lanky and surprisingly game. While the intent was
clearly for Miller to be a showcase fight for the young champ,
Inoue struggled early with Miller's massive reach standing and his
long legged guard, having never faced an opponent more long-limbed
than himself. While Inoue was able to get on track midway through
the fight and begin to effectively ground-and-pound to take a
decision, the fight ended up serving more as a showcase for the
virtually unknown Miller than for the newly crowned "Lion."
Sustain put Shooto's aces on display in Yokohama, where "Lion" would again have a chance to shine, this time in front of his hometown crowd. However, promoters clearly attempted to spoon-feed Inoue a little too much, as they imported Sweden's Navid Yousefi (Pictures), who was able to act more as a punching bag than a live body. After a surgical shellacking of the hapless Swede, it was the hope in the hearts of Shooto enthusiasts that "Lion" would step into the ring with another bona fide contender, like he had with Carvalho.
Of course, as fate would have it, Sustain opted to crush those hopes by announcing that "Lion" would have another in-ring exercise, this time with Japanese super-journeyman Hiroyuki Abe.
"Lion" has said that he still feels considerably "young” and that he wants to keep gaining valuable in-ring experience so he can reign as a true champion — an admirable position, if not a bit irritating. He will now have the opportunity to join many a famous face in the division, from Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) to Urijah Faber (Pictures), by walloping the aging "Abe Ani.”
It is important to give some proper reverence to Hiroyuki Abe. He's always been a highly entertaining fighter, and is a genuinely fearless competitor, never backing down from an opponent no matter how dangerous in the ring, or how absurdly overweight on the scales (that means you, Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures)).
He's also emerged as an outstanding trainer, heading up the rapidly growing Abe Ani Combat Club. As well, he is a preeminent member of the Japanese fight community, serving on the executive of ADCC Japan and boasting strong international connections in the fight world. He is also, by all accounts, a swell dude.
The fact remains that Abe just celebrated his 37th birthday, and peaked as a fighter well over four years ago. It would definitely be somewhat of a miracle for him to pull off a win here.
Both men share some residual familiarity with each other. Inoue's friend and teammate Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) faced Abe in his first Class A bout, and laid down an economy-sized spanking. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) has recently relocated to the heart of Tokyo, where he's dedicated himself to training under Abe at AACC. It is a particularly nice perk for Abe, since he'll need all the help he can get.
Inoue is younger, faster, stronger, and has a more outlandish haircut. In Shooto, that is a nearly unbeatable combination. While Abe has always had some pop in his hands, he'll be hard pressed to land anything on Inoue, who has a large reach advantage, and vastly superior striking skills. Inoue should be able to score liberally with low kicks and punch combinations, and bust up Abe. Given his physical advantages, and Abe's penchant for trying to degenerate stand-up battles into bar room brawls, "Lion" should be likely to keep the bout standing, where he should be able to score at will.
However, Inoue's wrestling skills are fairly underrated, and he more than certainly has the option of taking the bout to the mat. While Abe has showed some increased submission skills recently, they've mostly been exercised against hopeless opposition. If "Lion" gets the takedown and secures top position, he should be able to pound with impunity.
Short of the most perfectly placed punch in the history of perfect, "Lion" should smash his way through the bout. There is absolutely no reason, short of warrantless tentativeness, that Inoue shouldn't be able to secure a late stop, especially given Abe's history of cuts. However, if for some reason Abe survives the 15 minutes, expected a lopsided decision for the champ. Hopefully then, promoters can take the training wheels off of the champ, so every Inoue match announcement isn't a large disappointment for fans.
