LIHU‘E — Sometimes fighters are saved by the bell, other times it can be their enemy.
Kaua‘i fighter Eben Kaneshiro on Saturday evening got the best of Ricky Wallace during first round, sending his opponent to the ground 30 seconds before the end of the round.
“He was pretty much knocked out. They had to carry him back to the corner when the bell rang,” Kaneshiro said of his opponent.
Event promoter and Kaua‘i resident Randy Ortiz said all the Kaua‘i boys watching the fight were already cheering.
“I was in front of the ring, I started cheering,” Ortiz said. “Next thing I turned around and, ‘how come?’”
Ortiz said the video of the fight shows that there were 30 seconds left in the first round when the bell rang. The fight was scheduled for two rounds of five minutes each.
Kaneshiro was challenging Wallace for the X-1 featherweight world championship, Saturday night on O‘ahu. Before the fight, Kaneshiro said he was confident he would win.
It was the first time a Kaua‘i boy fought for the top title in an event promoted by X-1 World Events, an O‘ahu-based mixed martial arts company which promotes fighting events in Hawai‘i.
“In the beginning we kind of clinched up, and I took his back, standing. We went to the ground and I had a couple submissions on him, and he got out,” Kaneshiro said. “Once we go to the feet, we kind of went toe to toe for the whole rest of the round.”
Kaneshiro said he knocked down Wallace at the end of the round, but then the bell rang.
“He got saved by the bell,” he said.
When the fighters came back for the second round, Kaneshiro said he was already “gassed out.”
“He got me with a body shot that knocked the wind out,” said Kaneshiro, adding that Wallace won the fight by technical knock out.
Despite the claims that there was a discrepancy on the time, Kaneshiro couldn’t confirm it.
“That’s what plenty people are saying,” he said. “I never get to see the video yet.”
The Kaua‘i fighter, who now has a 15-8 record, said he might fight again in July, but is not 100 percent sure yet.
“I guess I had less than a month to train for this fight. Maybe next time if I have more notice I’ll do better,” he said.
Kaneshiro is originally from Kaua‘i, but a few years ago he moved to Oregon, where he runs the New Breed Jiu-Jitsu school. He has been training jiu-jitsu for 14 years and fighting professionally for nine years. Whenever he’s on Kaua‘i, he helps Kaleo and Kaeo Lopez run their jiu-jitsu school in Kapa‘a.
X-1 Champions III was held in O‘ahu’s Blaisdell Arena.
The night’s main event featured defending world-middleweight champion Falaniko Vitale (29-9), from Hawai‘i, against world-welterweight champion Dylan Clay (8-3). Vitale, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, knocked out Clay two minutes into the first round.
Fight results
X-1 World Middleweight Title: Falaniko Vitale def. Dylan Clay 2:04 round 1
X-1 World Lightweight Title: Max Halloway def. Harris Sarmiento via split decision
X-1 World Featherweight Title: Ricky Wallace def. Eben Kaneshiro via TKO round 2
X-1 World Bantamweight Title: Van Oscar Penovaroff def. Thomas Matias via submission (rear naked choke), 3:09 round 1
X-1 State Middleweight Title: Sale Sproat def. Collin Mansanas via KO, 1:28 round 1
X-1 State Featherweight Title: Dustin Kimura def. Kurrent Cockett via submission, 2:58 round 1
X-1 State Welterweight Title: Zane Kamaka def. Jordan Kekino via submission (Kimura), 3:21 round 1
X-1 State Women’s Bantamweight Title: Raquel Pa‘aluhi def. Nicole Johnson via TKO referee stoppage, 2:06 round 3
X-1 State Heavyweight Title: Lolohea Mahe def. Puka Bell via Ref Stoppage due to strikes, 1:49 round 1
X-1 State Lightweight Title: Will Shutt def. Steven Saito via split decision
X-1 Amateur Heavyweight Title: Paea Paongo def. Kala Koa due to noncontinuance by corner, round 2
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
