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00:00How to give instructions.
00:08Anything here is good, anything low is low.
00:11Anything here is good, anything low is low, okay?
00:13Best class, good luck, God bless.
00:17Time now for our co-feature as we take a look at the tail of the tape,
00:21Makito Nakano and Raisa Aleem.
00:24See Nakano with the height advantage but Raisa Aleem with a nice reach advantage here
00:29and that will come in handy for Aleem who is, as Morgan pointed out during the pre-fight features,
00:35a very tricky operator.
00:42The interesting thing about Makito Nakano is that if those statistics are correct,
00:49then his reach is less than his height, which is very rare for a world-class athlete,
00:56well not of any type just depending on the sport, maybe not weightlifting, but like in boxing and basketball,
01:02who can you think of world-class with a shorter reach than their height besides Rocky Marciano and J.J. Reddick?
01:09And now Nikito Nakano.
01:11And you know, as you look back at how Nakano has scored some of his knockouts,
01:20you think about those measurables, Morgan, and it isn't always that full extension, long, whippy left hand.
01:26It also, it usually requires a little bit of footwork to get in there.
01:30You know, a lot of step-in uppercuts, left hands, he needs to work a little harder to land that electric left hand.
01:37Yeah, Nakano is Mr. Outside Foot Position.
01:40When you watch a lot of boxing, you hear the commentators in southpaw fighter fights and orthodox fighters,
01:45you talk about which of them establishes their lead foot on the outside.
01:49For the most part, that's Nikito Nakano, and that's what allows him to line you up for that lead hand uppercut between the gloves
01:58and for that explosive straight left hand to the body or to the head.
02:03You mentioned the, at times, agonizing journey of Rais Alim, those starts and stops, the multiple 18-month layoffs.
02:12For Nikito Nakano, we kind of referenced it prior to the bout, nice left hand there.
02:18after an uppercut from Alim, was that Nakano, not to Moya Suboi, not Kosei Tanaka, not to Kuma Inoue,
02:28at a certain point early in their amateur careers, it was Nakano who was considered to be the best prospect of his age group.
02:36And he's watched, as you pointed out, as many of them have gone on to win world titles
02:41or at least have enjoyed more acclaim than he, now he has a chance to get up there on the world level.
02:47Yeah, and when you think about, we talk about this all the time with, when we broadcast these Japanese fights,
02:54like the measure of your amateur career, the measure of success in your amateur career isn't necessarily what you did at the international level,
03:00which is why Tomoya Suboi is still Japan's only amateur world champion, but they put a lot of emphasis on your high,
03:07like basketball and football in the US, a lot of emphasis on what you do in high school and in college.
03:12Right, and to further that, scholastic boxing as a pipeline to the pros.
03:16Yes, that's exactly it. And so Nakano boxed at Tokyo University of Agriculture.
03:24Nice counter shot there from Nakano. Nice left hand and the right hook behind it.
03:28We'll pick it up after the break.
04:08He's 35 years old.
04:10He's born in the U.S. Michigan Muskegon.
04:12He's born in 2011.
04:14He's got 23,022 wins.
04:17He's got 12 wins.
04:19He's got 12 wins.
04:22Two.
04:24McCory, just to finish that point about scholastic boxing,
04:28Nakano boxed collegiately at the Tokyo University of Agriculture.
04:32He's credited with his 68-8 record while he was there,
04:36which sort of helps explain the optimism around him when he turned pro.
04:42Round two now underway.
04:47The funny thing about Nakano is that despite that success,
04:51he points out that he didn't win the All-Japan title.
04:54When it came to big tournaments, there were often some stumbles.
04:58And he thought about leaving the sport of boxing early in his pro career
05:02or even before he turned pro.
05:04It was his former manager, Haru Nakano, who passed away last year,
05:08who was a key figure in the Taken gym,
05:10who convinced him to stick with the sport.
05:12So tonight, he fights with a bit of a heavy part in honor of his mentor
05:16as he hopes to stamp a ticket to a world title shot.
05:19Now that you mentioned Nakano, you know, we haven't seen these amateur fights,
05:22but it might also be that he's one of these amateur boxers
05:26whose style was just a lot more suited to professional boxing,
05:30especially when you see him go run up 13 knockouts in his first 14 pro fights.
05:36Amateur boxing doesn't necessarily reward his style of fighting,
05:40because what he looks to do is line you up for that big straight left hand.
05:44Hasn't been able to clip Aleem with it yet, but that's what he wants to be able to do.
05:48Again, Aleem is a technician.
05:51He's not going to give away that angle.
05:53He's right there, Corey.
05:55He's going to line you up for his straight right hand.
05:56He's very effective with it.
05:58Beautiful shot there from Aleem.
06:00I think had Nakano thinking about another check hook
06:05and then through that right hand immediately behind it.
06:08Beautiful shot there from Aleem who, like Nakano,
06:12finished third at nationals a couple of times in his amateur career.
06:16So he too came a little bit short against some of the bigger names
06:21and has battled his way to the doorstep of a world title fight.
06:25And you see him line up and land that straight right hand again.
06:28Yeah, Aleem, you mentioned his introduction to the sport of boxing.
06:33Tenshin Nasakawa is not the only karate black belt on the card tonight.
06:37Raisa Aleem, by the age of 12, had earned his black belt in karate.
06:42His dad was a sensei, and he thought to himself,
06:45I've done everything I can do in the sport of karate.
06:48There's nothing else I can do.
06:49I need a new challenge, which is how he wound up in the boxing gym.
06:52It's interesting, he had nine years of karate as his main sport.
06:55He had learned everything there was to learn.
06:57Boxing, he's been in it 23 years.
06:59Still learning, still evolving.
07:01Nice round here for Raisa Aleem.
07:05Gave us on the right hand there.
07:07Yes, and then the right hand.
07:09And again, I think that the concern about that left hook
07:12is creating opportunities with the right hand for Aleem.
07:17Kano tries to find a home for that step-back left hand.
07:23Ball's a little bit short.
07:26And that'll do it for round two.
07:30There's Aleem starting that sequence with a straight right,
07:47finishing that sequence with a straight right,
07:49landing a check hook, sort of cuffing with a check hook,
07:52but coming back with that right hand.
07:54And so as you watch Mikito Nakano fight, you watch his career evolve,
08:01you notice his defense is less than airtight.
08:06And that's fine with him because he takes punches well.
08:08And again, he's not that different from Riku Masuda
08:10in the sense that he does not mind taking a few punches
08:13as the price of getting his offense off.
08:17And because, Corey, he is such a powerful puncher,
08:24the dilemma he presents to everybody he fights is,
08:27he can be hit with a straight right hand.
08:29We know this.
08:30We've seen him eat a lot of straight right hands.
08:32But the problem for you as his opponent is,
08:34if you are close enough to touch him with your straight right hand,
08:37often he is close enough to touch you with his straight left hand.
08:40And that is never a fair exchange.
08:43You're always going to lose that.
08:44Yeah, that's a wager that he's willing to make.
08:48Very fitting for a man who walked to the ring to a song
08:53from the soundtrack of Kaji the Ultimate Gambler,
08:56to tie that all together.
08:58Nakano, another one of these kind of disciples of Shinsuke Yamanaka.
09:03He didn't inherit the nickname like Riku Masuda did,
09:06but he did get Iron Fist.
09:09No, he did not get Iron Fist.
09:11He got Manos de Acero.
09:13Yes, that's true.
09:14So that was from Carlos Linares, who's Jorge Linares' brother.
09:18And the thing is that his nickname is Spanish.
09:22So if you watch his fights in Japanese,
09:24all the commentary is in Japanese until they say his nickname,
09:27and then they say Manos de Acero.
09:29Hands of steel.
09:30Hands of steel.
09:38Macoria, Alim, is doing the thing that we wondered,
09:41that we thought he might be able to do, as we discussed this fight offline,
09:45which is land that straight right hand, land that jab.
09:51Well, this is still, well, until then, still staying out of line for that straight left hand from McConaughey.
09:59Good timing shots there from McConaughey.
10:08What is becoming clear though, Morgan, is that Aleem seems to be able to dictate the volume and the pace of this fight just with his legs.
10:17It doesn't mean necessarily that he's going to win all of these rounds, but I think he can dictate how busy they are.
10:25And that is something that, that McConaughey isn't quite used to, so we don't know how he's going to adjust to that.
10:37And how he's going to get this fight back to the point where he's dictating the range and the pace and the tempo.
10:47He's trying to track Aleem down, he's using three inch of this ring thus far.
11:06Both men looking for big hooks there.
11:09Don't know that either quite connected.
11:11Close in on the final ten seconds of this round.
11:18And the quieter the rounds are, the better they are.
11:21For the beast, Rahi Salim, who just got touched with a nice right hook as he wings a right hand over the top.
11:27Aha!
11:28What the fuck?
11:29.
11:30.
11:32.
11:34.
11:35.
12:21You're okay, man.
12:24Now, round four.
12:32Round four underway, and if you're Rae Salim, you've got to be happy with your start in this fight.
12:39Two straight coming into this one since suffering that loss at the hands of Sam Goodman in 2023.
12:46Trying to get back to the version of himself that we saw the night he beat Vic Paseas, who is a fantastic fighter in his own right, to win that interim Super Bantamweight title.
12:59He's looking very fluid in his movement thus far.
13:09Sweeping right hand over the top there from Alim.
13:12Yeah, Corey, you heard Bones Adams in the corner.
13:16They're very happy with what Rae Salim has been doing so far.
13:20Yeah, they want him to keep moving, and what they think they're picking up from Nakano is some desperation.
13:28He's getting impatient.
13:29Nice left hand there from Nakano.
13:34Got a nice angle.
13:36Found that shot.
13:42Corey, that's one of the questions heading into this fight.
13:44Is it who would be better at ring geometry?
13:47For the first round and a half, two rounds, it was Alim, but you're starting to see Nakano start to figure out what Alim's angles are.
14:04In the opening phase of this round, Corey, Alim's doing a lot of moving, but a lot less punching than he had done in the first couple of rounds.
14:10Shot to the body there from Nakano.
14:30In Nakano, if you've seen his fights, he has a number of knockouts from single body punches.
14:43In his fight this past May against Pedro Vasquez, he dropped him three or four times with body punches, but the first one was the most impressive because he punched through Vasquez's guard.
14:54That punch hit both of Vasquez's gloves and then hit his chest and still dropped Vasquez.
14:59Yeah, there's a weight to Nakano's shots that is noticeable, even in terms of his sound.
15:07Yes.
15:07Listen to that right hook that did not land clean there a moment ago.
15:12You can hear that one.
15:13Yeah, we talk about him the way we would talk about Julian Jackson.
15:19The impact of his punches has a different sound than other people's punches.
15:23It was in moments of a quieter round.
15:31Did you like the movement of Alim?
15:36Did you like that handful of shots from Nakano that did sneak in that round?
15:41And that lead hand hybrid uppercut is the punch that both of these guys like to land.
15:53Alim sort of is a flashy punch to score points.
15:56And then Nakano, obviously, he lands that punch trying to knock you out.
16:00Now round five.
16:26It's round five underway.
16:37Much slower pace to this fight than what we just saw between Toboya-Saboy and Carlos Padres.
16:43Nice, nice.
16:45Nice lead right hand there from Alim.
16:47A couple of guys who are looking very patient in this fight.
16:53Nice right hook there from Nakano.
16:58Two guys, Morgan, that like to relax in very different ways.
17:01Ray Salim, an avid yoga practitioner, Makito Nakano.
17:05When he relaxes in the locker room before a fight,
17:08he likes to watch videos, cooking videos, of what he wants to eat after the fight.
17:12I can relate to Makito Nakano.
17:19Because I, too, while I'm at work, think mainly about what I'm going to eat afterward.
17:24Yeah.
17:25I'm thinking about breakfast right now.
17:27Okay.
17:27You saw Alim start that previous sequence off with a check hook.
17:47You saw him, again, try to find a lane for that straight right.
17:50And what he's wrestling right now is the dilemma that faces every Nakano opponent,
17:58which is your choices are you either hurt Nakano or you are perfect.
18:04And it's very hard to hurt him.
18:06And nobody is perfect.
18:08So what happens to most of his opponents is they get clipped.
18:13And Ray Salim is trying to be the first guy to get in there
18:17and land a bunch of straight right hands against Nakano,
18:20enough to make a difference in the fight without himself getting clipped.
18:23Yeah, every fight against Nakano is a bit of a high-wire act.
18:26And Alim is walking it well right now.
18:32Right, and that's where the drama comes from in a lot of Nakano fights.
18:38It's not in the out-and-out action.
18:41It's not a high-punch output like we saw from Suboy.
18:45But it's the fact that at any moment,
18:47you could think you're in the fight until you're not.
18:49But when you're not in the fight, it's not because he's out-distancing you.
18:53It's because he is not too out.
18:57Alim, to this point, handling this threat relatively well.
19:01And if you're watching thinking,
19:03hey, you know, he's handling a southpaw pretty well to this point,
19:07it might be due to the fact that Alim himself is a natural southpaw.
19:12He admits that as a southpaw, he's stronger,
19:15but fights as an orthodox fighter.
19:17Yeah, and so, and there are a lot of people that do that.
19:20Like Andre Ward is a natural left-hander.
19:22Oscar De La Coya is a natural left-hander.
19:23Yeah, of course.
19:25And all these guys fight orthodox.
19:28Right hand to the body there from Alim
19:31as we will head back to the stools.
19:32Good work, baby. Good work. Good work.
19:35Good work.
20:05.
20:22.
20:25Round six.
20:27Round six underway.
20:32Nikito Nakano and Rais Aleem.
20:37An IVF featherweight title eliminator.
20:42Of course, you saw Nakano burial in that round.
20:45Let go.
20:47A heavy left hand trying to get Aleem's attention.
20:50And we don't know how the judges are scoring these rounds,
20:54but just Nakano's body language in the corner.
20:58He's not quite perplexed or flustered, but it is,
21:01you can tell it's a novelty to him in the sense that,
21:04by this point in the fight, usually the person,
21:06the other person across the room has gotten careless.
21:08Beautiful combination there from Aleem.
21:11A one-two-one in succession.
21:14And Aleem has not gotten careless yet.
21:16So Aleem is still landing punches,
21:18still managing to avoid Nakano's biggest punches.
21:21Has not left Nakano that opening.
21:24So the question is, can Nakano create that opening
21:29if Aleem's not going to leave it for him?
21:32Nearly did just a moment ago.
21:34He clipped Aleem with a left hand that landed flush,
21:38but a sign of encouragement for Nakano in a round
21:43that has looked very good for Aleem thus far.
21:46You see Aleem again looking for the lead hand hybrid jab uppercut.
21:52He thinks he can sneak that between Nakano's gloves.
21:57He's that right hand again, Corey, after the left hook.
22:01Nakano perhaps feeling the same way he did earlier this year
22:07when he was one of the chief sparring partners for Aoye Inoue,
22:11brother of Takuma, who will see him up next as he prepared for MJ Akhmedalia.
22:17Nice right hook there from Nakano.
22:20That right there, Corey, is the moment that Nakano usually takes advantage of.
22:24You saw Aleem land two punches.
22:27Nakano, that doesn't bother him if he hit him a little bit.
22:30Because what he wants to do is land heavy like he did right there, too.
22:34As Aleem is landing, Nakano's landing that right hook.
22:38They both land at the same time.
22:41Nakano wins the exchange because he punches so much more heavily.
22:44Nice adjustment here for Nakano.
22:48Just to finish up that anecdote, said that he felt very frustrated as a boxer
22:53while he was sparring with Naoya Inoue, understandably so,
22:57but you imagine he learned quite a bit during those sessions.
23:03As he hopes to set the table for his fellow Taekin fighter.
23:10Attention to Sukwa in our main event as Aleem lands a nice right hand to the body.
23:16That Taekin stable just absolutely stacked.
23:23Seconds tick away here in this round.
23:30Good moments for both men.
23:32The latter half of that round mostly belonging to Nakano,
23:36but there was big moments for Aleem in the early going just like that.
23:41Yeah, there's your 2-1-2-1, Corey.
23:45He puts Nakano in backwards gear, which is not what he likes to do.
23:52But right there is the moment we were talking about where at some point in just about every Nakano fight,
24:00the guy across from him gets careless and that's when he capitalizes.
24:04He was able to clip Aleem there, but Aleem took those punches well,
24:09and I don't know that that was Nakano's best fastball,
24:13but it's something Nakano has had to figure out on the fly
24:18because he's used to people leaving him that opening.
24:21He takes advantage, he goes home.
24:24And that hasn't presented itself to him tonight so far.
24:27That's our main event between Tension and Takuma coming up next,
24:34but we've got a good one still unfolding here between Nakano and Aleem.
24:44Corey, that running 2-1 is clearly something Aleem and his team think that they can land.
24:50That's two straight rounds where that's the first thing he's done.
24:53As well as it's worked, we've also seen its hazards which almost presented themselves right there.
25:11Yes.
25:12That if you're essentially, you have to throw yourself a little off balance to throw that combination.
25:17You have to jump in.
25:18Yes.
25:19Like right there.
25:20Like a puncher like Nakano, he doesn't need to land all of that left hand
25:24to put you in a little bit of trouble.
25:25And that's how thin the margins are that you're working with
25:29when you're in against a guy like Nakano.
25:31Keep going, baby.
25:32Keep going.
25:33Keep going.
25:34And Aleem is confident that that little bit of wiggle room is all he needs.
25:44Here it is again.
25:46Sort of a drive-by 2-1.
25:47Yeah.
25:48Landing that left hand on the fly.
25:57Aleem finding creative ways to get his left hand involved against a southpaw for a lot of Orthodox fighters.
26:04Yes.
26:05And that is a real struggle.
26:06Because you've seen him land the straight, excuse me, straight right to the body, which is what the textbook tells you to land.
26:15And Nakano, too, obviously.
26:17Rear hand straight to the body.
26:19Like, he makes a lot of his money on that exact punch.
26:23But to your point, Corey, there it is again.
26:25Switching directions, landing that jab as he drives by.
26:36And again, Corey, it also occurs to me that might be, you know, a move that he might have adapted from his career as a karate practitioner.
26:44Like, point sparring in karate is a lot of that sort of leap-by, drive-by, fly-by, lead-hand back-fist.
26:52No, I think that you can see those origins in this approach work.
26:55I think that that's a really apt observation.
26:59Because, you know, karate is kind of a collection of single attacks.
27:04Yes.
27:05And that's kind of what we're getting out of Aleem here tonight.
27:12And you can see Nakano trying to turn up the pressure, trying to close the distance.
27:19And he's confident that that's going to pay off for him, but he's still chasing it right now.
27:25He's got half a fight to hunt him down.
27:29The game plan for Aleem working thus far as we head back to the stools.
27:34All right, nice.
27:38Oh, yeah.
27:41We're just able to get back to the stools right now and move further with the trysons.
27:42We'll definitely drugiej step up.
27:43Look at the stools.
27:44We'll definitely have more cute what's riding-up on our Deaf team.
27:45Now I think that's why we're going on karena.
27:46We have morelémon intensive training stuff.
27:47More blessed, more Born Alexa.
27:48We've got a new training staff at Leagman kit.
27:53We've got anywhere from other teams.
27:55We've got bigger, brighter, more Chris.
27:59We've got only 21 years old human ο Dynamic and former Weave-MDOT Article-ippo.
28:02Thanks for speculation, we've got interpaid teams
28:03Up and down, chin down.
28:18Puts coming in.
28:22Now round eight.
28:28Round eight underway.
28:33You can hear the chants of Makito in the audience here at the Toyota Arena in Tokyo
28:38trying to rally Makito Nakano.
28:43Yeah, Corey, we don't know what the judges have on their scorecards right now,
28:48but you can tell from the crowd's reaction and also from demeanor in each of the two corners
28:54that if your team, Nakano, for whatever you thought this fight was going to turn out to be,
28:59you did not expect this.
29:00Yeah, and you can tell, I mean, certainly both fighters, I'm sure, want to be maybe doing more
29:08when they visualize the fight, but which fighter do you think is happier with how things are going
29:14or is closer to how they imagine this fight?
29:18It probably is Ra'i Salim.
29:19That's not how fights are scored, but one fighter's clearly feeling better than the other.
29:24Yes, now Ra'i Salim, I don't know if he would have envisioned himself doing more.
29:29I think he had envisioned himself.
29:30Oh, that's true.
29:31Just this right here, round by round, just sort of picking away at Nakano.
29:39Because the less action there is in the fight, the fewer exchanges, the better it is for Ra'i Salim.
29:44His body shot from Ali a moment ago.
29:47Yeah, if every few moments each guy has to regroup, that's what Ali wants.
29:51Body, body, body!
29:53Body shot from Nakano a moment ago, but Ali countered well up top with another left hook.
30:02Straight right hand, he uses that like most people would use a jab, just to force Nakano to reset.
30:10Nakano picking up the foot pressure again here in round eight.
30:13Movements of Ali still looking fluid and confident here in round eight.
30:22Looks like there might be a little bit of a cut that has developed on the outside of the left eye of Ra'i Salim.
30:48And indeed, we are seeing a little bit of blood starting to stream down the cheek of Ali.
30:58Nice right hand over the top.
31:00That one popped the head of Nakano backwards.
31:04We talk about this all the time, Corey, the difference between speed and timing.
31:08Ra'i Salim is much more on the timing end of the speed-timing continuum, speed-timing spectrum, but he has Nakano's rhythm so far tonight.
31:26As he bounces another right hand on Nakano's forehead.
31:29Steps to the outside, lands one more right hand.
31:35And we'll take a look at that cut.
31:36It doesn't seem particularly bothersome.
31:39Let's look back at some of the replays from the previous round.
31:42There's the claster heads right there that probably caused it.
31:48He's right on the corner of the eyebrow.
31:51Here's Bones Adams giving advice and he's the cut man at the same time, Corey.
31:55Multitasking.
31:56I think I described Bones Adams' presence as being a steady.
32:26I didn't know how direct that would be.
32:29Does some good work on the cut of Ali.
32:33And Nakano, they're waiting at center ring as round nine is underway.
32:39It's Ra'i Salim looking for a breakthrough and a true world title shot at the age of 35.
32:56Morgan, we talked about kind of the back channels, so to speak, that Alim had to go through.
33:00Yes.
33:00To get to the point that he was at.
33:03And talked about his finishes at nationals and the U.S. amateurs.
33:07And he talked about the fact that his contemporaries were, they were getting promotional contracts.
33:13And he chalked it up to the fact that he's a guy from Muskegon, Michigan.
33:17Promoters didn't look at him as someone with a local fan base that they could bank on to help bankroll that development in the early stages.
33:24And that kind of illustrates the difference between prospect development in the U.S. and in Japan.
33:30A guy like Mikito Nakano, basically is born into a gym ecosystem that is linked with the commission and with the promoter.
33:38And there's a streamlined development.
33:41Yes.
33:41Ra'i Salim is born into more of a capitalistic mindset of boxing development where gyms and promoters and networks aren't always working in unison the way that they are in Japan.
33:52Yeah, and so you saw, so you see, you look at Aleem's record.
33:57He's from Muskegon, Michigan, which is western Michigan, sort of north of Grand Rapids.
34:02And if you're a boxing fan, you know what the city of Grand Rapids means to the sport.
34:08Yeah, and he built his career, like early career in places like Holland, Michigan, which is sort of on the road from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo, if you're familiar with western Michigan.
34:21Places like Green Bay, places, Corey, like Hammond, Indiana, where we've been to the fight.
34:25Right.
34:26You know, until he worked his way up to fights in places like Cincinnati and Chicago until he could become a showbox regular.
34:34Nice reply there from Aleem.
34:36He got clipped with a white hook, but he comes back with a two-punch combination.
34:41And the other thing Aleem had to do, Corey, was when he graduated from that Midwestern, he moved to Las Vegas by himself.
34:47Our good friend Sam Gordon profiled him in the Las Vegas Review Journal a few years back.
34:54Moved to Las Vegas by himself on his 27th birthday.
34:57And as you said, was training himself for a while, worked as a security guard, worked in a pawn shop until he could get his career moving.
35:07He's cuffing left hook there.
35:10That will be determined to slip.
35:11Again, an illustration of how well the footwork of Aleem is working here.
35:18Yes.
35:18That he got Nakano out of position to such a degree that he had to hit the mat.
35:23And Nakano's not used to this, Corey.
35:25He's used to winning that footwork.
35:27Again, same shot from Aleem.
35:30Picks up that left hand.
35:33Things looking very good for Ace Aleem at the moment.
35:36I mean, changing directions, missing with that left hook.
35:46Yeah, he takes a right hook to the forehead, but then finishes that exchange.
35:50So to the extent that the judges saw that roundhouse left, the thing they're really going to remember is the two, the one, the two,
35:58the one, two from Salim at the end of that exchange.
36:02Again, getting the last word.
36:06Round 10 now begins.
36:36Good job, baby.
36:38Kito Nakano and Rais Aleem.
36:41IVF featherweight title eliminator.
36:45Good luck.
36:46Good luck.
36:54Certainly early in this fight, there were a lot of quiet rounds,
36:58but you get the feeling that the momentum is in the favor of Rais Aleem.
37:03They're running 2-1 again, Corey.
37:06Yeah, same shot.
37:09But if there's a set of skills that you would want down the stretch of a fight to get out of a potential hole on the scorecards,
37:18it's potentially the one that Nakano has.
37:21It's having an eraser of a left hand.
37:23The question is whether he can land it on the button.
37:26The fight-stopping power that can either get you a couple of 10-8 rounds real quick or just take the judges out of the equation.
37:34But yes, Corey, Aleem has been so elusive tonight without outright running.
37:44He's been there and sort of presented this tantalizing target.
37:49And Aleem can see it, can almost touch it like he did right there, but can't quite.
37:55Again, the right hand of Aleem got there first.
37:59And Aleem, too, so often in an orthodox versus southpaw matchup,
38:05you hear announcers and coaches and analysts like Harp about the orthodox fighter
38:11and his or her need to move clockwise.
38:13Here's Aleem going the other way, moving toward Nakano's power hand
38:20and still keeping this fight basically under his control,
38:25at his distance, at his tempo.
38:36Combination there from Aleem, backs Nakano up as we're inside the final minute of round 10.
38:40Yeah, Corey, you saw Aleem a couple of sequences ago sort of invite that left hand from Nakano,
38:47get underneath it, and then that led to the sequence that we saw
38:50where he hit him with both hands.
38:54There's your check hook again, Corey.
38:55Yeah, and that speaks to what's working here for Aleem.
38:59Yes, it's movement.
38:59Yes, it's timing.
39:00But it's also imagination and creativity.
39:03Yes.
39:03Look at that shot from Aleem, and that is a knockdown.
39:06The right hand of Aleem has Nakano on the floor.
39:10Let's go, baby.
39:12Let's go.
39:14That's what I'm talking about.
39:16It's fighting.
39:16Fight.
39:17Fight.
39:17Fight.
39:18Fight.
39:18Fight.
39:18Fight.
39:19Fight.
39:19Fight.
39:19Fight.
39:19Fight.
39:20Fight.
39:20Fight.
39:20So after all that talk about the power of Makito Nakano,
39:26it's Raisa Aleem who scores the first knockdown of the fight in round 10.
39:34Corey, and we just got finished talking about
39:36how that man right there had the power in one hand to create some 10-8 rounds.
39:42And there's Aleem.
39:45Right at the end of that sequence, he had missed with the lead hand uppercut.
39:50Missed with the right hand.
39:52Missed with the two.
39:53Sorry, missed with the jab.
39:54And then caught Nakano flat-footed at the very end of the sequence.
40:03Short, sharp, overhand right.
40:09Well, I think this is a pattern, Morgan, that Aleem has identified,
40:12that Nakano is having trouble.
40:15When he ambushes him with those 1-2-1s,
40:18Nakano is quite often just backing straight up.
40:20Yes.
40:21Not turning anywhere.
40:22And so Aleem just continues his combination
40:24until Nakano's off balance and gets hit with one of those right hands.
40:28What a sequence from Aleem.
40:30It reminds me of that sequence from, remember the book The Black Lights
40:32by Thomas Hauser and Victor Baez in the gym with Jerry Cooney
40:35trying to get Jerry Cooney to move to the side?
40:37He says, if a train's coming at you, do you move backwards
40:40or do you step sideways off the track?
40:42And here's Aleem, when he feels like it,
40:47coming in to Nakano like that freight train
40:49and Nakano stays on the track, he's backing up, gets hit.
40:57Nakano's going to need to be the train in the final six minutes here.
41:08Again, we don't know what the scorecard's going to look like.
41:11Yes, there were quiet rounds, but now you have a knockdown
41:13and seemingly a period of sustained dominance
41:19from Aleem for a couple rounds now.
41:25Even right there, the crowd makes noise when they hear that left hand.
41:31I don't know that they saw or I don't know that they cared
41:33that that left hand only hit Ray Salim's glove.
41:36Well, and remember that the crowd has started to make noise seemingly
41:39when it has felt like things weren't going to Nakano's way.
41:43They kind of come alive in round eight.
41:44They start chanting his name and now after the knockdown.
41:48So, again, you don't know what the scorecards look like,
41:51but vibes would indicate that things are going very well for Aleem.
41:58Eyes, right hand again at the end of that combination from the Beast.
42:02And what we're seeing, too, Corey, is right there
42:04when they are forehead to forehead squared up.
42:08Aleem is still winning these exchanges.
42:10He's taking Nakano that extra fraction of a second
42:13to figure out what he wants to do.
42:15He'll load up that left hand and throw it.
42:17And by the time he's done that, Aleem has done this.
42:20Because he's getting his moments
42:21where they are standing toe-to-toe, face-to-face,
42:24forehead-to-forehead.
42:28And Nakano's just not able to capitalize on it.
42:33What an uppercut there from Aleem.
42:36Aleem is just seeing all these openings
42:37a split second ahead of Nakano.
42:44He walked him into a left hook there, too, Corey.
42:46Yeah, sharp left hook there from Aleem.
42:48He was kind of teasing Nakano with that right hand.
42:53Tom open, almost waving at him.
42:56And then landing that left hook.
42:57He looked for the same sequence right there.
43:00Final 30 seconds of round 11.
43:04So the question we asked earlier in the fight is,
43:07what does Nakano do when his opponent
43:09does not leave him an opening?
43:11Can he create one?
43:13And that's what he's been struggling to do right now
43:15is to create an opening from Aleem.
43:18But again, even when they're right here,
43:19sequences like this, they're at Nakano's range.
43:23Nakano can't get that big punch off.
43:25Big right hand there from Aleem.
43:28And Nakano shrugs it off.
43:30But he has got three minutes to figure it out.
43:33That right there is sort of the fight in microcosm.
43:49They are at Nakano's range.
43:50That was where Nakano wants to be.
43:52He's got the shorter arms.
43:53He wants to be close enough to Aleem to hit him.
43:55And as Nakano's right hand is on the way,
44:00Aleem's is landing.
44:01Aleem connects.
44:02He's out the back door.
44:05But Aleem is stopping in front of Nakano
44:08just long enough for Nakano
44:10to get his offense off.
44:12But Nakano's also still so aware
44:15of the offense coming back at him.
44:18Again, it's causing a bit of a lag.
44:2012th and final round
44:34in this IBF featherweight title eliminator.
44:38In round four,
44:42Bones Adams told Rae Salim
44:44that Makito Nakano was getting desperate.
44:48If he wasn't already,
44:48he has no choice but to be here in the 12th.
44:52Yeah, I mean,
44:52if we're continuing with the baseball analogy,
44:55Corey,
44:55this is where Nakano needs that three-run home run.
45:03I would imagine we do not see the scorecards.
45:08I'm guessing based on what we've seen.
45:13That's the size of his deficit.
45:14Nakano looking for that left hand to the body.
45:25It's been troublesome for Nakano,
45:27who, as we mentioned,
45:29has been a devastating body puncher.
45:31But when he's targeted the body,
45:34the hand speed of Aleem
45:35has been getting there first.
45:36Yes.
45:36And what we haven't seen him from Nakano this fight
45:43that we're used to seeing is...
45:45There's that left hand from Nakano.
45:47Yes.
45:47That is the one he's been hunting for.
45:52Aleem took it well, but you might be hurt.
45:53He might not have taken that one well.
45:55Aleem grabbing a hold after that left hand.
45:58Nikito Nakano looking for a ninth-inning home run.
46:23You can see the effects in the legs of Aleem.
46:26He's trying.
46:28To get his balance underneath him.
46:30He's got a minute to survive here.
46:34And a frightening puncher on the pursuit.
46:38Yeah, and to continue the baseball analogy,
46:40it might be time for an intentional walk
46:42if you're recently...
46:50In this case, a long walk around the perimeter.
46:52That's exactly it.
46:5430 seconds remaining, and every one of these tie-ups
47:02is beneficial to Arise Aleem.
47:04Akano found the two best shots that he's landed in this fight
47:15in the final round.
47:20But Aleem, resilient and tricky enough
47:24to survive.
47:25And a messy ending there
47:30to what was a tremendous performance
47:34from Raeis Aleem,
47:37and a gutsy one in that 12th and final round.
47:41And Corey, were we not talking...
47:43Well, listen, I don't want to speak too soon
47:45because we haven't seen the scorecards.
47:46Just in terms of the eye test
47:49that we've seen as Akano lands
47:50the first of two big left hands.
47:53There it is again.
47:54That's the punch he'd been looking for all night.
47:58And to Raeis Aleem's credit,
48:00he didn't go down
48:00because most times when Akano lands
48:03like that two times in the same round,
48:06one or both of those punches
48:07are going to put you down.
48:09Well, you can see in the slow-motion replays
48:11a couple of times,
48:12just like a brief flicker in the eyes
48:15of Raeis Aleem
48:16before gathering himself.
48:18Oh, yeah, there's a moment
48:19where those eyes are going
48:20in opposite directions
48:21before they come back online.
48:23You're 100% correct.
48:27So Aleem showing a chin,
48:30showing plenty of heart,
48:32still at the age of 35
48:33as he hopes to get his shot
48:36at a true world title fight.
48:39You mentioned this earlier in the fight.
48:41You know, you Google the name,
48:43Raeis Aleem,
48:44you go through the headlines
48:44through the years.
48:46He's been calling the names
48:47of Stephen Fulton,
48:48of Inouye,
48:49of Akwadalia
48:50for years and years and years.
48:53And inactivity
48:54and shortcomings
48:56at the wrong time
48:57have hampered him.
49:00Is this the breakthrough
49:01that he has been waiting for?
49:04The body language
49:05in the Nakano corner
49:06not particularly positive.
49:08No, they look very concerned in it.
49:10They might be concerned too.
49:11Let's see
49:12what the judges have to say.
49:14All right.
49:14Let's send it back up
49:15to Jimmy Lennon Jr.
49:18Ladies and gentlemen,
49:19after 12 rounds of action,
49:21we have a unanimous decision.
49:23Here are the score totals.
49:26Judge at ringside,
49:28Jeremy Hayes,
49:29scores about 115 to 112.
49:32Judge Giulio Piras scores it,
49:36116 to 111.
49:38And Judge Carl Zampia
49:40scores the action,
49:42118 to 109.
49:44All three in favor of the winner
49:47by unanimous decision.
49:49The winner of the IBF
49:51Featherweight World Title
49:52Eliminator,
49:55Rais,
49:56the Beast Ali.
50:02Oh, there's going to be
50:07a brunch party
50:08in Muskegon, Michigan,
50:10tonight.
50:11Or this morning.
50:12Yes.
50:13Because Rais Ali,
50:14I forget where I am.
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