Rudkin vs Harada
1. 8 - 10 Harada. Not the most convincing knockdown but he had him wobbled earlier, good round
2. 9 - 10 Harada. Looks the smaller man but looks strong in clinches. Both landed a reasonable amount in this round
3. 9 - 10 Harada, landing the more telling shots. Not wide rounds but definitely all Harada at this point for me
4. 9 - 10 Harada, the little fella does not like taking a backward step. Rudkin is going to have to hope he tires soon
5. 10 -9 Rudkin. Harada started well but Alan did enough in the last couple minutes. He needed that. Stood his ground more and got off some good body shots
6. 9 - 10 Harada. Not sure if that was a full round but I enjoyed it, good action, starting fast from the bell, Harada caught him a lovely left hook coming out of a clinch
7. 9 - 10 Harada. That's the last 2 rounds he's ran out of his corner, I think he knew he dropped a round and is doubly determined. He wants to respond to everything
8. 9 - 10 Harada. I keep wanting to give something to Rudkin, as he's contributing to the rounds, but Harada is just too much for him. Do these rounds seem short?
9. 10 - 10 Even. Close round. However, at one point Rudkin moves in, throws a 1-2, Harada evades both with nice head movement and throws a jab between the 2 shots that snapped Rudkins head back, lovely little bit of boxing
10. 10 - 9 Rudkin. Both men's ribs took a pounding here, I'll give this to Rudkin as he laded a couple nice shots upstairs too
11. 10 - 9 Rudkin. Harada is tiring and Rudkin can sense it. But Harada did dig in and give it his all in the last minute. Would have been a glimmer of hope here for Rudkin
12. 9 - 10 Harada. Again he responds well, planted his feet and dug in with hard hooks in a couple exchanges, Think he's having to force it, but still got a bit left in the tank
13. 10 - 10. Really good round for this stage of a 15 rounder. Good solid clean shots landed up stairs from either man. Neither deserved to lose the round
14. 9 - 10 Harada, I was scoring this to Rudkin until the last minute, but the little bugger was determined and stuck in there to nick it for my card
15. 10 - 10 Even. another good effort from both men right to the last.
110 - 117 Harada.
Good hard fought fight. Rudkin played his part but Harada has certainly made a fan of me both through his sheer determination and his talent, of which he had both in abundance.
He ran off his stool in most rounds, he never voluntarily took a backwards step, he was in perpetual motion and always throwing but it was his reaction to shipping a punch or losing a round that really impressed me, you could see him become visibly more determined.
He also seemed to have that mentality you see drummed into amateurs. If your opponent lands make sure the judges see you throw some back. But with this little fella, I think it was just that he took it as an insult that you hit him.
Technically he was impressive too. It's easy to miss the little things when someone is constantly boring forward. But his footwork flowed constantly, very light on his feet through the 15 rounds and his head movement was good too.
Rudkin could learn something from watching Harada dip when he threw his jab. When they exchanged lefts, Harada often dropped below Rudkins left while landing on the more upright man, the jab he landed in the 9th was a prime example, evading 2 shots and snapping Rudkins head back with a left.
Equally when Rudkin tried to push him back with a jab, his head moved forward in a straight line behind it, leaving him open to the counter, which Harada was always willing to throw.
Rudkin didn't do a lot wrong but he was facing the better fighter in Tokyo, it was a big ask
