Lu Yun and Okamoto were up to fight after Tang Yan and Gonzalez.After a short break and changing clothes, Tang Yan then sat next to Qin Hailong to watch the fight.
In Asian boxing j.a.pan was undoubtedly a powerful existence especially in the lighter weight categories.
Only 17-years-old Okamoto was a potential starlet for their country and he showed this successfully reaching the semi-finals.
j.a.pan was known for its karate. The island country"s boxing style evolved from it. It was characterized as technically simple but sound, fast and precise. They were by the book fighters with an aggressive style.
This fight was destined to be a wonderful clash of brutality.
"One more to go till the final, you"ve got this." Tang Yan said as Lu Yun prepared to enter the ring.
Lu Yun nodded hard, and entered the ring energetic.
Okamoto also came in full of power, he was polite and nodded in greeting to Lu Yun.
After the two people touched gloves they moved to their corners.
Ding! Ding!
Lu Yun took the lead in launching an offensive. His current style of fighting had become increasingly warlike and he put his whole body into attacking to defeat his opponent.
Okamoto didn"t attack immediately but quickly turned to defense, bopping and weaving using elbow blocks to constantly resist Lu Yun"s offense.
His flexible figure and strengthened elbows made him not inferior even on defense.
Lu Yun"s first round of offense didn"t bring him any benefit.
Seeing this, Tang Yan"s face could not help but become dignified.
Okamoto seemed more rounded and stronger than Lu Yun.
Lu Yun"s set of punches finished, but the action didn"t stop and the second set of combination punches was ready to go.
However, at this time, Okamoto suddenly gave up his defensive posture, and threw a direct punch.
Lu Yun was attacking with all his strength and Okamoto also had a quick punch. He didn"t have time to dodge and he gritted his teeth. He followed through with his heavy punch at Okamoto.
It was this type of play, Lu Yun used to clinch the victory against Zhakypov. He didn"t want to have to resort to trading blow for blow so early but if he had to, he was willing to.
However, what Lu Yun and the audience didn"t expect was that Okamoto facing his incoming punch didn"t mean to retreat. He just turned his head slightly to the right right at the last moment avoiding being hit and his swinging fist accelerated.
"Boom!"
Okamoto caught him right on his right cheek.
Lu Yun was. .h.i.t and his whole person leaned out to the left.
He reacted quickly, and opened up distance then took two steps to meet Okamoto"s lumbering rush. He parried a swinging right and stabbed a light left into his earnest face. Okamoto missed with a short left but hammered a right home to Lu Yun"s ribs and used his weight to force him across the ring to the ropes.
Okamoto stayed inside, pumping rights and lefts into his midriff. Lu Yun caught him across the top of the head, but Okamoto had his face against his chest, and Lu Yun didn"t know how to pry him loose.
The audience roared seeing this scene.
Many of the audience were Chinese and naturally wanted Lu Yun to win but it was obvious that Okamoto had the advantage in this confrontation with Lu Yun.
Lu Yun brought up another short right and Okamoto grunted. Lu Yun pushed him away and danced out into the middle of the ring. Okamoto plodded after him. They traded long-range swings. There was a snap and speed in Okamoto that Lu Yun couldn"t match and he was beaten to every punch by Okamoto.
Okamoto lanced out with a rapid straight left again and rocked Lu Yun just enough to keep him off-balance.
But he didn"t pursue the attack and instead did a beckoning gesture at him. Whilst seemingly dropping his guard. It was clear he was trying to provoke him.
It immediately attracted the buzz of the audience.
And it gorged a reaction out of Lu Yun, who became red-eyed and rushed forward in anger.
Tang Yan saw this scene, his brow slammed. It was an obvious attempt to provoke and lure him in.
But Lu Yun was already provoked, he attacked with a violent storm of punches like a manic bull.
Okamoto responded quickly and immediately plunged into defense.
Lu Yun was an explosive boxer. In this round of attack, Okamoto was almost unable to lift his head.
The audience went wild at Lu Yun"s offense, and the shout of "KO!" resounded in the boxing hall.
However, at this time, Tang Yan"s brows were wrinkled and tightened.
Although it looked like Lu Yun had the upper hand and even looked close to a KO, in fact, Okamoto"s defensive posture hadn"t changed. He lost only temporary momentum, but Lu Yun wasn"t able to deal any significant blows or do real damage. With his skillful dodging and blocking even the points Lu Yun would get weren"t too great.
It wasn"t sustainable either, he was wasting a lot of energy.
So sure enough when the offense of Lu Yun was coming to an end, Okamoto immediately launched a counterattack.
He glided under a right hook from Lu Yun, stepped in and belted him on the jaw with a long, looping right. It sent his head reeling back. Then he hit him with a body shot, Lu Yun was now the one half hazardously blocking and trying to retreat.
"Ding! Ding!"
Just then, in the nick of time when things were looking rocky the bell went.
At the end of the first round, there was no KO but Okamoto succeeded in taking that round.
During the rest interval, Qin Hailong said to Lu Yun whilst cleaning him up.
"Stay calm and focused, this is a very difficult opponent, don"t let him under your skin." Qin Hailong continued to say to Lu Yun.
Lu Yun nodded constantly, sweat drenched all along his forehead and body.
Tang Yan didn"t know what to say at this time.
"I will reach the finals." Before moving on, Lu Yun suddenly turned his head and said to Tang Yan.
Tang Yan paused for a moment and nodded hard with force: "I believe in you."
Ding! Ding!
The second round began.
Knowing he was a round behind Lu Yun came out aggressive again, but Okamoto turned defensive and evasive. Mainly hitting and running not slugging it out with him like in the first round. It was looking to be a slow round with Okamoto fighting carefully and methodically.
....
Tang Yan sighed at the scene in front of him and suddenly stood up from his seat and said to Qin Hailong: "I"m going to the toilet."
Arriving to the toilet, he instinctively reached into his pocket for a smoke, but when he touched it, it was empty and he smiled wearily at this. Sometimes he forgot he was back in the past.
"You want one of mine." Just then a voice came, someone in the toilet saw his movement and handed him a cigarette pack.
Tang Yan wanted to say that he didn"t smoke. When the man followed up and said, "Hey, aren"t you Tang Yan who fought in the semi-finals? How come you"re smoking at such a young age?"
Tang Yan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and couldn"t help but look at the guy in front of him.
He looked around the age of 30, with a neat appearance, he wore a suit which was extremely outplace. He looked like a government employee.
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This was obviously an old smoker for him to recognize his mannerisms.
He didn"t deliberately make a fuss, and he took a cigarette.
The man didn"t say anything about him taking one and took the pack back whilst taking out a cigarette of his own, he lit his own and handed over the lighter to Tang Yan.
Taking a puff, he said: "I"m Zhuang Jiajie by the way. The translator allocated to the j.a.pan Team."