Roshani Out, Van Opstal in Against Hinata; KENJI vs Franck Gross Added to RISE 88

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 14:11

Written by Sam Sattler

RISE has announced that, unfortunately, Vahid Roshani will not be able to participate against Hianta at RISE 88 on June 2^nd. However, he will be replaced by a formidable opponent in Team Souwer’s Henri Van Opstal. Like Souwer, Van Opstal has fought in Japan in Shootboxing, competing in the 2010 S-Cup and making it to the semifinals with a win over Luis Saraiva, though he lost to Buakaw. He also got a win over Akihiro Gono at Shoot the Shooto last November. I believe his most recent fight was a loss to Hafid el Boustati at It’s Showtime 55 back in January, but it is possible he could have fought since then. Hinata and Souwer faced off in September of 2010 in Shootboxing with Souwer using Shootboxing rules to his advantage and locking up a standing choke in the 1^st round that gave him the win.

RISE also made what I presume to be the last big fight announcement for RISE 88, announcing that promotional 55kg champ KENJI will be taking on WAKO European Bantamweight champion Franck Gross. KENJI (20-4-0, 12 KO) has won 6 in a row and 10 of his last 11, with his sole loss coming in the semifinals of the inaugural Krush 55kg tournament to divisional kingpin Shota Takiya by extension round decision. He most recently took decisions over Shooto 52kg champ Mikihito Yamagami and Pajonsuk Por Pramuk at RISE 87 and 86, repsectively. According to the release, the Frenchman Gross (21-4-1, 3 KO) is a practitioner of savate.

Also added to the card is Yasuomi Soda taking on Korean Kim Dong-soo at 65kg. Soda is coming off of a loss to 65kg champ Koji Yoshimoto in a challenge for Yoshimoto’s belt, which was also Soda’s first pro loss.

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