Friday, July 30, 2010

Kathy Long vs Kyoko Kamikaze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSi1hYgQL8

At first, I thought Long was being careless as she starts off with what looked like on overcomitted aggressive attack. As I watched the fight unfold, I realized that she was throwing high power combinations from the end of her reach, utilizing her height advantage over Kamikaze. She was actually being careful to keep her range while unloading some heavy bombs. The fight lasted 5 rounds, but Long won in round one. She started off by intimidating her opponent with her power and continued to do so throughout the fight.

Kamikaze on the other hand seemed to allow the intimidation to control her, constantly backing away, throwing only short combinations then backing off. She never really seemed to set up something to take away Long's plan. Most of her offense seemed to come out of when she had to punch her way out of a bad situation, rather than trying to create a good situation for herself. She seemed very reactionary, allowing Long to control the range and pace of the fight.

Eventually Kamikaze started throwing a few combinations, but too late in the fight, and her strength seemed to have been sapped. At one point she landed a good looking hook punch on Long's chin, only to have long stick out her chin and tap it as if to say, "come try that again!" Before round 5 (the final round) in Kamikaze's corner, Kamikaze looked done. Round 5, Long knocked her down twice. I was impressed that Kamikaze was able to get back on her feet. Long won decisively.

Now I have to watch more of Long's fights to see if this is a common tactic for her. She psychologically overwhelmed her opponent from the beginning and used that advantage to physically overwhelm her as well.


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