Greater fighter: Yoko Gushiken or Yuri Arbachakov

Flo_Raiden · Mar 7, 2023

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McGrain · Mar 7, 2023

lora said: ↑

Both had similar career arcs.I'd say it mostly just comes down to who you think was the more effective and greater talent.

A lot of the same drawbacks and strengths can be laid in front of both...as fighters and in terms of career accomplishment.

Yuri probably has some slight advantages in that he faced slightly better or fresher opponents in a classic division instead of a needless ******* weightclass...Gushiken really should have just fought at Flyweight too, but took the easiest path to a title.He also didn't go out in quite such a poor anti-climactic manner as Yoko did.He has injuries as excuse for his inactivity and still fought a spirited fight against Sasakul second time out.That was a very good fight, even if he lost clearly-about 8-4-he still had success and showed his will and toughness.

Gushiken went out in his last couple of fights-supposedly burned out and struggling with the weight- in a way that would have made the recent Shane"i'm only here for the money if he hits me back"Mosley ashamed.

On the other hand though, Gushiken did decisively beat everyone he fought up until then.Arbachakov was the king of the close decision nearly all of his defences were close back and forth affairs.

Zamudio, Nam-Hoon Cha, Arciniega, Sasakul I, Juarez.....those were fights i really had to sit and score before i was entirely sure who had won.

It seemed to me that he fell off a couple notches physically very quicklyafter the Kittikassem rematch and despite his undoubted technique and power, he was susceptible to being drawn into tough fights by every style he faced.There didn't seem to be any particular style he had a comfort zone against.

Perhaps it was because his workrate was often on the low side for a Fly and he was very methodical.He'd stay too long in a probing, range-finding mode behind an inconsistent jab and the sporadic sharpshooting right hand. his excellent combinations and brutal left-hook he threw far too rarely.

Gushiken could give a similar disinterestedly methodical look too, but not to the same extent unless the foe was hopeless and just trying to survive ie. the terribly tedious fight with aniceto Vargas, where it looked as if he could have stopped him much earlier if he'd given more than a tiny effort.Usually he was quicker to try different punches and pacing if his opponent was having success.

arbachakov tended more to just chug away with the same rhythm and punches, eventually prevailing through his accuracy and footwork.A rare exception was against Toguchi, who had antagonised before the fight and was on the end of some brutal fast combinations and varied punching whenever he threatened to get into the fight.

when i look at them technically i see a similar approach to textbook box-fighting.Both love controlling range with high-level textbook footwork and impeccable use of pivots, half-steps and angles in general, all from ring-centre.Arbachakov had the quicker feet though, at least initially.

Both have all the punches thrown well as leads, combinations and counters, methodically setting them up behind a range-finding jab-though both can deliver a good stiff jab as well, usually as a single disruptive punch.They prefer to keep things to that and the follow up straight right\left as the basic go to punches, though Gushiken comes back with a follow up hook to finish exchanges far more often.

Both good bodypunchers, neither notably fast of hand for the weight, though arbachakov the edge there for his first few defences.

Good sound textbook defence for both, though neither(especially Arbachakov) have notable defensive reflexes.

arbachakov relied more on his footwork for avoiding punches i'd say, though he could slip punches nicely at times, he didn't have quick upperbody work or give many clever angles there.Quite minimal upperbody defensive work with as little wasted motion as possible, which might have worked better had he been a bit more reflexively talented.

Gushiken got into better defensive positions with his upperbody and showed a good radar in a fair few of his fights imo.He could get into a better slip and counter groove(against guys like Guzman even quite Duran-esque at times) than Yuri, but you could perhaps argue he would have struggled against better fighters to do similar and he did sometimes give off much the same look and flaws as Yuri defensively.Against the slick crafty and partially rejuvenated Alfonso Lopez for instance, who was giving him little to counter and picking his shots well.

Two really good fighters, slightly inferior-despite more balanced attributes-in a similar style to forum legend Ayub Kalule.:yep
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ah, the mighty lora.

Xplosive · Mar 7, 2023

I find Arbachakov really overrated on this forum, because he's treated like an ATG when his resume was extremely weak outside of Kittikasem. However, I would say he was better and more talented than Gushiken when at his best.

Gushiken is greater though.

Tin_Ribs · Mar 7, 2023

McGrain said: ↑

ah, the mighty lora.
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Reading the post made me nostalgic for him calling Carlos Ortiz a drunken John C Reilly lookalike. It's still the funniest thing I've read on here ever.

Tin_Ribs · Mar 7, 2023

Xplosive said: ↑

I find Arbachakov really overrated on this forum, because he's treated like an ATG when his resume was extremely weak outside of Kittikasem. However, I would say he was better and more talented than Gushiken when at his best.

Gushiken is greater though.
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I like the Sasakul win as well, X, to be honest. Sasakul was excellent (if arguably a bit green) and Arbachakov was past his best by that point. Point stands though that his other comp wasn't the best though and he did have to scrape by some of them.

Gushiken was more dominant definitely, but in a ******* division also without unifying and his best two wins being the faded version of Lopez who'd been chin cracked by then and a limited banger in the form of Vargas. Gushiken went out like an absolute fanny too at the end of reign where Arbachakov imo showed some toughness and grit against Sasakul in the rematch. Just my five cents. I dunno who is greater tbh.

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Greater fighter: Yoko Gushiken or Yuri Arbachakov

Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

Xplosive Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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Greater fighter: Yoko Gushiken or Yuri Arbachakov

Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

Xplosive Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

Tin_Ribs Me Full Member

Tin_Ribs Me Full Member