Feisty fogeys fight it out in World Oyaji Battle

[Archaic]

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2005/08/20050808p2g00m0dm018000c.html

Our champ in the red corner, weighing in at 120 pounds, with an arthritic hip, thinning hair, poor hearing and a bad back, it's the Groaning Geezer! His opponent tonight in the blue corner hits the scales at 135 pounds, is riddled with gout, a bung liver and is sure this would never have happened in his day -- the Fighting Fogey!

OK, perhaps things didn't quite work out exactly this way, but that was certainly the impression created by the World Oyazi Battle, a no-holds-barred fight to determine the most powerful geezer on the globe, according to Shukan Jitsuwa (8/11).

Oyazi, or oyaji as it's more commonly known, is the Japanese word for geezer and the World Oyaji Battle rides the wave of popularity for fighting sports created by such contests as K-1 and Pride, but instead of clashes between young men in peak physical condition, it pits aging fogeys who've sacrificed middleweight for middle-age.

Fighters in the World Oyaji Battle must be aged at least 35 and the vast majority of those who took part in the recent bouts at Korakuen Hall -- Japan's spiritual home of modern fighting sports -- are normally ordinary salarymen.

And, though the waists may be thicker and hair thinner than in their heyday, some of the competitors on the card still proved to be pretty fine fighters.

Take Hiroyuki Shiratori, for instance. At 35, with a receding hairline and flabby waist, at first glance he's no different to the average geezer seen anywhere on Japan's streets, Shukan Jitsuwa says.

But, put him in the ring and he turns into a demon. He won his debut fight in a knockout and followed up with a draw against a former kick boxer once ranked second in Japan.

Shiratori looked out of his league in the World Oyaji Battle when put up against 39-year-old Yasutomo Miyashita, whose trim build and fleet-footedness made him appear at least a decade younger.

Though Miyashita dominated the early part of their bout, Shiratori's stamina was remarkable and he pushed Miyashita the whole way. Though he eventually lost the bout, the flabby fighter won the hearts of the crowd.

Also competing were 38-year-old Kyozo Watanabe and 42-year-old Tomonori Nakamura, who clashed in a Shacho Taiketsu, or Battle of the Bosses.

Watanabe owns a nightclub in Tokyo's famous Roppongi entertainment district, is married to a British woman and lives in Europe. Nakamura, meanwhile, runs a vending machine company in Osaka.

Nakamura won the bout easily, getting Watanabe into a choker hold from which he couldn't escape.

"I used to be an unbeatable street fighter," Nakamura tells Shukan Jitsuwa.

Nakamura adds that he was relieved to have won considering his wife insisted he could only take part if he promised to emerge as the victor. (By Ryann Connell)

[Kadabra]

So they consider 35 year olds as "geezers"? After reading the first few paragraphs, I thought it would be a battle between elderly "fighters" ... haha. I was about to comment with "The Japanese never seem to run out of strange ideas to amuse and confuse us with."