Krush Triple Final: A Look Back at Last Week's Incredible Tournament Action

When it comes to Japanese kickboxing events, sometimes you've got to wait months to get fight videos online. Other times it's a matter of weeks, perhaps even days. Fortunately, Krush's April 30th event was quickly broadcast in Japan by Gaora and the fight videos have made their way online. They've been online for a couple days now, but here's hoping that fans will still appreciate a pretty comprehensive look at the night's important tournament action.

Krush Triple Final delivered solid action as expected, while also turning most everything we thought we knew about the three divisions represented that night on its head. None of the three tournament favorites walked away victorious; Koya Urabe lost in the 63 kg. final, Masaaki Noiri ate a huge hook in his 60 kg. semifinal bout, and Ryuya Kusakabe was dispatched in the 55 kg. final.

Tournament victors Ryuji Kajiwara, Hirotaka Urabe, and Shota Takiya are all solid fighters but lack the sort hype that any of the anticipated winners came in with. Plainly, Kajiwara is likely to be dismissed as old by many fans while Urabe and Takiya have been fighting in the shadow of others. For Hirotaka Urabe, it would be his brother Koya. For Shota Takiya, it would certainly be the 55 kg. favorite Ryuya Kusakabe. Regardless, all three fighters were able to secure victory and become champions in divisions where much of the important action really is still happening in Japan.

The videos of the fights that are available are posted below. We'll begin by taking a look at the 63 kg. tournament action.

Koya Urabe vs. Takuya Shirahama (63 kg. semifinal): Koya Urabe did what was expected in his 63 kg. semifinal bout against Takuya Shirahama: he went out there and won. Nothing spectacular, but the tournament favorite did enough to secure victory and moved on.

Ryuji Kajiwara vs. Kizaemon Saiga (63 kg. semifinal): Ryuji Kajiwara advanced to the 63 kg. final with a sound victory over Kizaemon Saiga. Saiga has plenty of qualities that will keep him relevant, but we can only hope that the young fighter will round out his game a bit.

After the jump, the 63 kg. final and the available fight videos for both the 60 kg. and 55 kg. tournaments.

Ryuji Kajiwara vs. Koya Urabe (63 kg. final): The 63 kg. final began with Kajiwara looking to keep range while Urabe advanced with strong, if not technically brilliant, combinations. Both fighters landed well in the first round before Urabe began to unload a bit early in the second. Kajiwara turned the tables late in the second, flooring Urabe with a cross on the tail end of a four punch combination that mostly just bounced off Urabe's guard. One thing that you wouldn't know without seeing the tape: Urabe showed a hell of a lot of grit in the final round. He wasn't able to come back, but there's something to be said for the young fighter.

Yuji Takeuchi vs. Masaaki Noiri (60 kg. semifinal): Both fighters looked solid early on and things really started to pick up in the second as Noiri dropped Takeuchi with a cross. Lot of good action in the round, particularly as Takeuchi landed a great uppercut about a minute later and looked to swarm. The uppercut came around again for Takeuchi in the third. As did the hook. Plus the cross. Both fighters were floored with about 1:50 to go as they traded hooks, Takeuchi getting the worse of it. He stumbled to his feet and the two battled on for a little less than a minute before Takeuchi landed another massive hook that left Noiri out cold.

Although we don't have video for it, Hirotaka Urabe was able to move past Dynamite Yuta with a majority decision.

Hirotaka Urabe vs. Yuji Takeuchi (60 kg. final): Hirotaka really went to work here. Impressive speed, head movement, feints, defensive awareness. Oh, plus one massive head kick halfway through the first round.

Shota Takiya vs. Ryuya Kusakabe (55 kg. final): The two young fighters just went at it here. A lot of wild front kicks and combination punching early, clinching and throwing hands inside as the bout wore on. The trajectory of the bout became clear just about midway through the final round as the southpaw Takiya landed a left cross flush while Kusakabe was throwing a left hook. Floored, Kusakabe returned to his feet and looked to survive as Takiya swarmed with front kicks, hooks, and knees. It looked as though Kusakabe would make it to the final bell until a clinch with around :50 left was broken up by the referee. Hands wide and looking as though he had a hook, cross combination in mind, Kusakabe walked directly into a front kick to the face.