How would you rate Masao Ohba?

I'd put money on him over Canto. Terrible match-up for the stubby Mexican.

 

I just don't see how he'd go about it. I think Ohba's far greater physical advantages, namely height and reach, would see his snaking jab control the fight. Canto also lacks the pop to take advantage of Ohba's shaky chin (which always seemed to strengthen as the fight went on). It's almost like favouring Whitaker to out-box Hearns, although there are some obvious differences in style.

 

I rate him highly.

He had a formidable combination of excellent textbook skill and physicality.Good mover, can punch effectively going in any direction.The combination of his highly accurate straight punching arsenal and ranginess make him a a tough proposition to try and beat from the outside.

His career arc can be compared to Salvador sanchez and like sanchez, he was a poker faced steely tough ring-general that grew stronger as fights went on.Overall i think he showed slightly more c-hinks in his armour than sal did though.

For one, he didn't have the Mexican's iron constitution; especially early in fights where he could be quite vulnerable.Also-while as an excellent technician he was defensively polished-he wasn't blessed with particularly notable defensive reflexes\radar and could be ruffled a bit by awkward non-textbook punching.

A past prime, but still dangerous Chionoi showed the latter and Gonzalez demonstrated he wasn't beyond being drawn into a close give and take technical fight if you had the ranginess and toughness to match.

Despite his size i'm not sure he would have fared well moving up in weight, albeit the added bulk may well have made him more solid and durable.

If he had remained at Fly, i see him cementing himself as an undisputed Flyweight great, instead of an arguably borderline one.

Canto was too small and liked his counter left-hooks too much to beat him imo.I see them falling slightly short more often than not and Ohba punching with him in combination-especially the double jab, though it would likely be a close fight where Canto does especially well early.

 

He'd be one of the worst matchups for Canto ever.

The Jap had a Foster-esque jab for the weight, and that Harada/Hasegawa ability to explode into two-fisted assaults.

He was shaky early, but Canto would never exploit that.

He was a quality fighter, I've seen 3 of his fights, Chionoi, Berkrek and Amores and he displayed incredible range in those fights.

When you look at his resume; Hanagata (1-1); Betulio; Chatchvanchai; Amores; Chionoi; Cabanella, like Sal Sanchez he managed to fit a solid resume into a short amount of time so can hardly be deemed to be getting overrated based on 'oh, poor kid died too young'.

A top ten Flyweight for sure. H2H he'd beat anyone that doesn't blast him early doors. I would make the argument that the next era was such a great and competitive one because of his early demise.

Venice Bus Station would annihilate him fo' sure.

Canto wasn't infallible either.

 

Also, how have I not seen his fight with Betulio? atsch I'm a ****in' mong.

 

Does Borkhorsor really translate to bus station?

 

Yeah, although I usually get Venice Intercity from Thai-to-English translation (or BUS) I have been reliably informed that his chosen Thai ring moniker was Venice Bus Station. :good

Borkhorsor just means B.K.S. That's just 3 letters as they sound spoken phonetically in Thai. The abbreviation is for Bus Station. Bor.Khor.Sor.

 

Venice does seem an unusual name for a Thai or is it not?

 

For sure, one of the things I'll be trying to get to the bottom of in my upcoming book :tong

Maybe some kind of bus company? I dunno, but it goes toshiw sponsored Thais have always been part of the game.

 

Any luck with tracking Charles Atkinson down?

 

Haven't really searched yet, half-asked Buncey, I might press him further answer if he knows of a contact. Meeting with a guy who has written for Boxing News in Bangkok who has recently spent time with Wonjongkam for an article, hopefully will be of some help.

It's gonna be a hard task this :-(

 

I'm in london next week for the board of control awards dinner. i'll as about.

 

Sound as always, cheers Alan :good