On Saturday, Aug. 20, Japanese kickboxing promotion, KRUSH, returned to the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan for KRUSH.68.
In the main event of the evening, KRUSH 58-kilogram champion Kaito Ozawa returned to the promotion following his defeat against the No. 1-ranked 55-kilogram kickboxer in the world, Takeru, at the K-1 World GP 65-kg World Tournament. Ozawa defended his title for the first time against Takeru’s training partner, Tatsuya Oiwa.
In the evening’s co-main event, top-10 ranked featherweight Masaaki Noiri returned to KRUSH following a semifinal loss to Kaew Weerasakreck in the K-1 World GP 65-kilogram world tournament. Noiri was scheduled to fight fellow top-10 featherweight Ilias Bulaid before other obligations forced him to withdraw from the upcoming bout. Noiri knocked out WLF 2015 67-kilogram tournament quarterfinalist, Pengfei Wang.
In a special exhibition bout, two of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters collided in a two-minute, two-round exhibition bout. The world’s top-ranked featherweight Kaew Weerasakreck took on the world’s best 55-kilogram kickboxer, Takeru.
The event aired live at 3 a.m. on Nico Nico TV.
Masaaki Noiri def. Pengfei Wang by knockout. Round 1, 1:37
Hisaki Higashimoto def. Taito by knockout. Round 2, 2:20
Takeru vs. Kaew Weerasakreck (Fairtex) – Special Exhibition
Ryuji Horio def. Masafumi Kurasaki by knockout. Round 3, 1:11
Hiroto Iwasaki def. Rukiya by extra round decision
Keisuke Nakamura drew Hiroyuki by split draw (29-29, 29-28, 28-29)
Daisuke Fujimura def. Kazunari Kimura (30-27, 30-28, 30-29)
Kentaro Miyachi def. Kentoshi “Syun” by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
Seiya Ueda def. Kazuki Yamashita by unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-28)
Takuma Sakaguchi def. Daiki Shimizu by knockout. Round 2, 2:12
Kuroudo def. Shun Kato by TKO. Round 2, 3:00