Keita Kurihara apologises for win over Renan Portes
One of the absolute rarest things to see in boxing is a fighter who won a bout admit they got a gift. On Monday at Korakuen Hall however we saw one such case as OPBF Bantamweight champion Keita Kurihara (19-8-1, 16) [栗原慶太] admitted he did not deserve the split decision win he got against Filipino fighter Renan Portes (13-17, 6).
The bout, an 8 rounder at Super Bantamweight, saw Kurihara press the action and try to force the tempo of the bout, but struggle to land anything as Portes smartly out boxed him, out landed him and seemed to control much of the action. The one exception to that was round 6, when Kurihara managed to rock Portes in the only real round that seemed to be in favour of the local fighter. Outside of that he was repeatedly coming off second best, with Portes landed clean straight right hands
After he heard the scorecards, which saw him win a split decision with scores of 78-74, twice, against a 78-74 card for Portes, he broke down in tears. Not tears of joy however, but tears of frustration and disappointment. He had an interview in the ring after the bout and stated what most believed, “I didn’t win”. He then added "I was treated as the winner in the end, but I lost. It's embarrassing that I was declared the winner. I'm really sorry."
Explaining the bout Kurihara stated "My punches missed their target and I was spinning around. I got hit quite a lot. It was the worst possible situation and I was completely defeated. My countermeasures didn't work. I felt that I hadn't grown at all. Nakatani (Nakatani Junto = MT), Masuda (Masuda Riku = Teiken), and Nasukawa (Nasukawa Tenshin = Teiken) were fighting well, so I tried to win as well and somehow make up the gap, but..."
Kurihara’s promoter, Mr Kobayashi, was also harsh on the performance from his man, stating "Just like before, there is not enough ingenuity. If (Nasukawa's camp) sees this match, they will definitely think they can win. I think (Kurihara) will lose, being at the mercy of Nasukawa's speed. If there is an offer, it will be after hearing his intentions."
Portes, who was understandably unhappy with the decision, stated "The sixth round was dangerous, but I got all the other points. I won."
After the bout it was reported that Kurihara had gone to Portes in the changing rooms to apologise, telling Portes he had deserved the win, and would be asking the JBC to review the result. Essentially the first fighter, that we know of, to appeal against a win that they scored and ask for the scores of Toshio Sugiyama and Shuhei Terayama to be looked at, both of whom are incredibly experienced officials.
The bout, an 8 rounder at Super Bantamweight, saw Kurihara press the action and try to force the tempo of the bout, but struggle to land anything as Portes smartly out boxed him, out landed him and seemed to control much of the action. The one exception to that was round 6, when Kurihara managed to rock Portes in the only real round that seemed to be in favour of the local fighter. Outside of that he was repeatedly coming off second best, with Portes landed clean straight right hands
After he heard the scorecards, which saw him win a split decision with scores of 78-74, twice, against a 78-74 card for Portes, he broke down in tears. Not tears of joy however, but tears of frustration and disappointment. He had an interview in the ring after the bout and stated what most believed, “I didn’t win”. He then added "I was treated as the winner in the end, but I lost. It's embarrassing that I was declared the winner. I'm really sorry."
Explaining the bout Kurihara stated "My punches missed their target and I was spinning around. I got hit quite a lot. It was the worst possible situation and I was completely defeated. My countermeasures didn't work. I felt that I hadn't grown at all. Nakatani (Nakatani Junto = MT), Masuda (Masuda Riku = Teiken), and Nasukawa (Nasukawa Tenshin = Teiken) were fighting well, so I tried to win as well and somehow make up the gap, but..."
Kurihara’s promoter, Mr Kobayashi, was also harsh on the performance from his man, stating "Just like before, there is not enough ingenuity. If (Nasukawa's camp) sees this match, they will definitely think they can win. I think (Kurihara) will lose, being at the mercy of Nasukawa's speed. If there is an offer, it will be after hearing his intentions."
Portes, who was understandably unhappy with the decision, stated "The sixth round was dangerous, but I got all the other points. I won."
After the bout it was reported that Kurihara had gone to Portes in the changing rooms to apologise, telling Portes he had deserved the win, and would be asking the JBC to review the result. Essentially the first fighter, that we know of, to appeal against a win that they scored and ask for the scores of Toshio Sugiyama and Shuhei Terayama to be looked at, both of whom are incredibly experienced officials.