Japan’s Tishiaki Nishioka successfully defended his WBC Super Bantamweight crown outclassing and outgunning a brave Rendall Munroe in Tokyo.
Nishioka was magnificent, and deservedly awarded a unanimous decision at the end of twelve engrossing rounds. He mixed sharp, accurate punches to the head with crushing blows to the body, yet it was his exceptional, allusive movement which stood out most. Britain’s Munroe simply could not pin down Nishioka and had no chance of imposing his impressive physique on the home-town hero.
Nishioka had KO’d seven of his last ten opponents and can certainly hit. With this in mind, Munroe kept a high guard for the first few rounds which allowed the champ to establish his rhythm and gain an early lead.
The speed of Nishioka, and the rapid way he threw his combinations must have worried Munroe, but between rounds the champ was breathing heavily and the question seemed to be; could he last the distance at this pace?
Round four changed the entire fight. A determined Munroe outworked Nishioka and forced him on the back foot. He landed a couple of decent looking left hooks, one which especially seemed to unsettle not only Nishioka, but his legions of fans. Munroe took the round at a canter, but paid, the price. Realizing his opponent meant business, Nishioka didn’t drop another round the entire fight. Straight away in the fifth he charged on the front foot and was all over the Brit, catching him with a quality left hook. Munroe clung on and showed real survival skills to last the round.
By round eight both fighters were cut around the right eye, however Munroe’s looked worse. Targeting the cut, Nishioka unleashed a steady stream of hard lefts before thundering home a brutal body blow which left Munroe gasping for air.
Proving he has class and belongs at this level, Munroe continued to come forward but to little avail. The movement and footwork of Nishioka was too good and, more often than not, left the Brit punching thin air.
In the championship rounds Munroe desperately tried to find a way through, but Japan’s superstar of boxing showed he can be just as effective countering on the back foot as he is steaming forward. Every time Munroe got in close, he would slip to the side and fire home a quick series of punches to the head and body.
The twelfth round again saw Munroe attempt to apply pressure, only to be frustrated and hurt by the movement and punching power of Nishioka.
As the final bell chimed, the result was obvious. All three judges scored the fight 119 – 109 to Nishioka and there were certainly no arguments from the Munroe camp. Nishioka was simply too good. Going into the bout, questions were raised over his fitness and stamina – yet both were faultless and he was the deserved winner.
On a personal level, I have followed Munroe’s career from the start and was saddened to see him leaving the ring in tears. He was not an embarrassment. In fact, far from it. The way the part-time garbage man has flown the flag for British boxing has been admirable and his humble attitude towards work and money is refreshing.
Munroe will come again and could certainly give the likes of Ricky Burns and Steve Molitor a bit of trouble. Though I have to admit it would be preferable to see Nishioka facing these guys in big time unification bouts, and on this performance not many people would bet against the slick Japanese operator cleaning up the division.
