Krush.24, Nov. 10: Yetkin Ozkul vs. Masaaki Noiri, Youth GP Finals

Monday, 15 October 2012 14:06

Written by Rian Scalia

Krush has really been stepping it up in terms of quality, and quantity this year, with more and more events, and bringing in more foreign opposition. Krush.24 takes place on November 10 in Tokyo, Japan and along with the two Youth GP Finals at 63kg and 70kg respectively, they're also brought in one of the best foreigners to face one of their own top fighters.

LiverKick #1 ranked lightweight Masaaki Noiri headlines the card, taking on our #4 ranked lightweight Yetkin Ozkul at 63kg, in what is a huge match for the division. Noiri rebounded from a 64kg loss to Raz Sarkisjan in May with a win in August. Ozkul made his big splash in kickboxing when he dominated and stopped Thomas Adamandopoulos back in May.

Noiri is the bigger fighter and is much more accustomed to 63kg but if there's one flaw he has, it's defense to punches and Yetkin Ozkul specializes in that exact area, power punching. Despite being smaller, Ozkul hits like a truck. What Ozkul will have to watch out for are the knees of Noiri, who will have a significant height advantage. 

Also on the card are the two Krush Youth GP Finals. At 63kg, Koya Urabe fights Hisaki Higashimoto, who surprisingly ended up in the final after winning his two Youth GP fights on September 9, including a big stoppage win over HIROYA. Urabe is definitely the favorite and the more seasoned, experienced fighter but it would be huge if Higashimoto won, giving us a new major player at the weight. At 70kg, the final is Shintaro Matsukura against Taisei Kondo. Matsukura has had a ton of ups and downs, including his all out brawls with Yuya Yamamoto but a win here would help him get back on track. Kondo had a tough time getting here with a majority decision win over JungleKoki but definitely has a chance to win the fight due to Matsukura's defensive flaws.

Also expected on the card are Zaurus Asami, Yuta DYNAMITE and Yuzo Suzuki.

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