(Header photo courtesy of LadyGo!)
5. Megumi Fujii vs Hisae Watanabe Exhibition Match
Shoot Boxing has put on a number of interesting matches over the years and not all of those matches have been under their rules. In 2009, they put together an exhibition match between Megumi Fujii and Hisae Watanabe. At the time Megumi was 17-0 and was running out of opponents. Due to behind the scenes politics it seemed unlikely that she would get to fight some of the other stars at the time like Miku Matsumoto, Yuka Tsuji, or Satoko Shinashi. Hisae hadn’t fought in close to two years and despite some sporadic returns, she would never really seriously fight again. However, at the time, Hisae was one of the biggest female combat stars in Japan, known for her one-punch knock out power and in hind-sight, it is nice to see the two legends share the ring together, even if it was just an exhibition.
4. Mizuki Inoue wins 2nd Tournament
Prior to joining the UFC, Mizuki was fighting all of the time. A good example of this can be seen in 2013 when she fought for Deep Jewels in March, Invicta FC in July, then fought three women in one night for Shoot Boxing in early August and grappled for Deep Jewels later that same month. When she defeated three women in one night for Shoot Boxing, Mizuki won her second tournament within the promotion and defeated her rival, Ai Takahashi, for a third and final time. It was truly a crowning moment in relation to her career as a Shoot Boxer. It is also worth noting that prior to the final bout, both her fights with Ai had gone to extension rounds, so she had already spent 10 rounds in the ring with her before their final bout.
3. Erika Kamimura vs Ham Seo Hee
Erika Kamimura’s run through the 2011 Girl’S S-Cup Tournament might be the most dominant single-night performances in Shoot Boxing history. She TKO’d her first opponent in the 2nd round, her next opponent in less than a minute, and then defeated Ham Seo Hee to win the tournament and guarantee a match with Rena in what would become a super fight. The fight with Ham was a back-and-forth slugfest, where they were just swinging with haymakers at times. Despite getting thrown twice by Ham, Erika was able to drop her and win the fight and the tournament. Speaking to her afterwards, Erika relayed that the she thinks the throws gave her a concussion and you can see her get up in pain after them, but she didn’t let the pain affect her performance.
2. Rena’s Violent Return
Rena is the face of Shoot Boxing and has won tournaments there more than any other fighter. Those who are familiar with her will know that she loves to throw body punches and this was on full display versus Zara in 2011. Rena knocked her out with a brutal liver punch in the 2nd round, but what was more impressive is the context in which it happened. Prior to the fight, Rena had lost an exhibition match to Erika Kamimura, where she was dropped, and she had lost a championship fight with Ai Takahashi. She had thought about quitting, but decided to keep going and this was her return fight. At the same event, Erika won the tournament and Rena entered the ring afterwards, announcing that the two would fight for real, later that year. In many ways, this win helped re-launch her career and led to a career defining victory of Erika.
1. V.V. Mei reminds everyone that Shoot Boxing isn’t Kickboxing
Some people may be confused about Shoot Boxing, wondering if it is just kickboxing. It most definitely is not. V.V. Mei, or V Hajime at the time, reminded everyone that Shoot Boxing is more than kickboxing, when she threw her opponent Madoka Okada three times. Not only did she throw her three times, but all three were suplexes that qualified for 2 points, meaning that she earned 6 shoot points in the match, likely the most ever earned. It really seemed like no matter what Madoka did, Mei was going to throw her. This was also an important moment for Shoot Boxing as it showed that MMA fighters could succeed in the promotion and led to fighters like Jessica Penne and Toby Imada also finding success within the promotion.
Photo Credits:
http://queensofthering.com/archives/51287352.html
http://queensofthering.com/archives/51287117.html
http://queensofthering.com/archives/50832012.html
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