Japan vs. South Korea at the World Baseball Classic was billed as a baseball game, but things are rarely so simple in what might be baseball¡¯s fiercest rivalry.

It was more like a heavyweight fight under the bright lights at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night. The hardest slugging lineups in Pool C took turns landing haymakers, with a group of MLB stars ¡ª including a pair of reigning World Series champions on opposing sides ¡ª providing a lot of the firepower.

?In the end, as has been the case for the past several years between these two nations, it was Japan that came out on top after a back-and-forth affair.