Harumi Nemoto vs Reon Kadena

(Front Street Japan vs Front Street Japan)

(5-4, 5 KO vs 8-7, 8 KO)

Harumi and Reon agreed to a match more than five years ago, but it was quietly forgotten. It is only happening now because someone was digging through the match records and found this one scheduled, but not yet fought. Harumi is forty, while Reon is only thirty-four. The girls are both 5’6.

This is the fourth match in the “Harumi Nemoto Gauntlet”, a 7-match series. Harumi is declared to have beat the gauntlet if she wins at least four of the matches. Her current record is 2-1.

Harumi is in a blue bikini probably a size too small for her, and Reon is in a black one. Both wear red gloves.

R1: The girls exchange hard punches in the first two minutes of the round, opening each other up with body shots that elicit grunts of pain from each. Harumi folds Reon over with a punch to the stomach in the third minute and sends her reeling with a blast to the face. She’s unable to press her advantage due to the clock ticking down before she’s able to press Reon. The opening round is fast and hard, both girls already breathing hard at its end.

R2: Reon starts this round off fast, with a rhythm that Harumi can hardly keep up with. The lightning assault gets past Nemoto’s guard, punches slamming into her face and body, but she is not totally helpless. A few return punches here and there keep Kadena wary and unable to finish her opponent off. Harumi is looking winded already, and her prospects do not look too good.

R3: Wrong, I was! Harumi is not done yet as she mauls Kadena's jugs with methodical brutality, gradually wearing the other woman down. She manages to force Reon to the ropes, sinking punch after punch into her opponent's flesh. It is now Reon who looks worse for wear at the end of the round.

R4: Both girls are fierce, charging at each other with powerful punches as soon as the round starts, both looking to finish the other before they're knocked down themselves. A punch to the nose causes Harumi to start suffering from a nosebleed while a blow to the mouth busts Reon's lip open. Drops of sweat are flying everywhere as leather hits skin, the fighters grunting in pain with each blow they take. Neither is able to gain an advantage over the other as the clock ticks on. The round ends with neither being able to finish the other.

R5: A blast to Reon’s head from Harumi tips the scales, allowing Harumi to gain the upper hand and Kadena finds herself on the wrong end of a beatdown. She’s eventually forced back against the ropes, where she’s barely able to avoid a knockdown through willpower and a solid defense. Though, Harumi is eventually able to force past her defense and knock her down in the second minute.

Reon struggles to her feet, leaning on the ropes for support, able to stand on her own at 7, but she’s through. Though she tries to mount a defense and counterattack, Harumi knocks her hands aside and continues to beat her, sending fifteen punches into Reon’s head in seven short seconds. At this point, the ref stops the bout.

Winner: TKO5 Harumi Nemoto!

After: Normally, the post-match is a time for the victor to humiliate the loser, but Harumi doesn’t do this to Reon. She instead holds a hand out to her fallen opponent, helping the battered woman to her feet.

A rather strange show of sportsmanship that we often do not get to see in the FCBA, indeed.

Harumi Nemoto Gauntlet Record: 3-1. Will she win the next one?