Sugimoto Hiroshi vs. Gypsy Taro

As much as the previous fight was one of the great fights of the year, Gypsy Taro vs. Sugimoto squaring of against each other will go down as one of the most absurd. Sugimoto is my friend and fights out of Purebred Kyoto. Taro is a solid fighter with a bad record who represents Shooting Gym Osaka.



Sugimoto had been practicing his Sammy Sosa entrance for over a month.



Sugimoto (In White) comes from a Kyokushin base, and is quite strong.



What had impressed me when I saw Gypsy Taro last year was his strong striking defense, a rarity in Shooto. It would be a necessity in this fight.



Sugimoto came out looking for blood and slipped in his enthusiasm. He was running around the ring, jumping into his punches and leaping in the air for no particular reason. He had Taro backing up however. Taro's counters were somewhat effective, but Sugimoto's punches were full of power and doing serious damage to Taro's face. Even his shoulders were looking worse for the wear.



Sugi began to sense how much damage he was inflicting and upped the pace, getting a sweetly demonic look on his face.



This fight, a circus of one-two power punching punctuated by feigned knees and leaping into the air, was all over the place.



Taro went for the clinch and landed a knee or two. These however, didn't appear to slow down the action.








The end of round one took place against the post of a neutral corner. Feeling the fight, Sugi went for something he has been doing in practice lately, the old, Ryo Chonan flying scissor heel hook. I should mention at this point that Sugimoto has absurdly strong legs. I thought it was just me who thought that but other pro fighters have been mentioning it lately. So it isn't so crazy that he could pull this move off.



Sugi failed and spent the last 20 seconds trapped in the corner eating a punch or two.



Nakakura helped Taro to regroup for the 2nd. Possibly there was some ice down the pants.





While Taro was clearly damaged, Sugimoto was clearly worn down. His hands were low and all he could muster were some one-twos. They still had a good deal of power and Sugi's left had been scoring all night. This is where Taro's defense started to prove effective.




Both fighters were worn out.



A mutual doctor's break was called. Taro was bleeding and red.



Sugi had little left to give.



A vicious barfight broke out.



Sugimoto could no longer keep his hands up and stood in front of Taro, taking his beating.



A Taro slip brought the fight to the ground. Sugimoto looked re-energized and got the fight to half-guard. Then fatigue set in and he was held there until the fight was stood back up. Sugimoto's last chances were slipping away as, even though he had inflected more damage, spending a round with your hands below your waist will not win a judge's decision.



Both fighters remained game however. The crux of the fight was Taro's ability to maintain a competent boxing stance; a scarce commodity in the world of Shooto and something I would advise others to work on. My old bass teacher used to tell me that when you looked like you were playing well, you often were. Boxing is no different. Sugi's power was clearly superior but standing around looking like you are trying to bum a smoke cannot earn you a victory.

At this point the fight became so absurd that photographs, at least the kind I had the ability to take at the moment could no longer communicate the mood. Here is a video I took of the last 30 seconds or so.



Needless to say, Sugimoto lost the fight and Gypsy Taro, with Hokazono in his corner, moved on in the Rookie Tournament. If this fight comes out on video, watch it. It makes little sense and is all the more thrilling because of it.