This one would be hard for me...so Im interested to see what others say. Fighting Harada would be a lock for no1 of course, but after that Im at a loss. Saijo Soji Masao Ohba Hiroshi Kobayashi Hiroyuki Ebihara Jiro Watanbe Guts Ishimatsu Yasuei Yakushiji Koichi Wajima Yoko Gushiken Again not in any order as of yet. And more than likely missing some names,
Kuniaki Shibata is a good name... better than good. 56-6.... Took a KO 13 victory over Vicente Saldivar in 1970, to claim the WBC Feather crown.. Defended twice before losing KO by3 to Clemente Sanchez. Moving to JL/W, he outpointed Ben Villaflor for the WBA crown... defending once before losing a rematch with Villaflor... the very first punch KO'd him.... Not to give up, four months later, Feb '74 he took the WBC jL/W title from Ricardo Arrendondo.... defended it 3 times, all over the 15 round journey, before losing to Alfredo Escalera... His record is worthy of ATG status, as most fans see it today. A good fighter, with a great heart..... no chin????
Nice work flame, thanks for the input. His win over Salvidar alone puts him into consideration for the top10.
Shoji Oguma would be a lock for top 10 for mine. Japan's first world champ Yoshio Shirai also deserves consideration for the top 10. Though their careers didn't end up amounting to much, guys like Kiyoshi Tanabe and Eijiro Murata looked exceptional for a short while. Hopefully RB and Mantequilla can help us make some order of these guys.
W.a.R... the details of his career dont neccessarily make for a convinceing performance in some aspects.. If we take into account the modern performances, and the days of Shibatas... suddenly, a little respect must be given.....especially by beating Saldivar, who 'robbed' Fammo.. His abilities were tested whilst moving to the higher division, and he duely managed to claim both WBC and WBA titles, alas... he also managed to lose the titles just as quickly... and more convinceingly. In a way, his personal record is second to few of recent times.. and a great record for Japanese fighters.
Speaking of Oguma, I was just wondering, has anyone seen his third fight with Chan Hee Park? I just saw the first two encounters yesterday, and I thought Park actually won the rematch by three points in what turned into a real war in the second half. So to my mind they are 1-1. How did the third fight go? One I will endeavour to see myself, but it would be good to know how it resulted, to have an idea of where to place him amongst the Japanese elite. Getting a top 10 for these guys is extremely hard. Japan has had a lot of fighters who are on roughly the same level and its hard to distinguish them.
Masamori Tokuyama was always a guy that caught my eye...I thought he was a very underrated fighter between 2000-2005. Very difficult to deal with. Thats if you consider him Japanese though.
Pretty true though really. Wasn't there a guy who won the LWW title in like his 4th fight??? Think he was Japanese. He retired fairly quickly as well, can anyone recall this guy?
I think he was thai and that would probably be Sahaprom..Who was just one of the best all around fighters on the planet during the 90's and into the naughties. Very good former world champ kickboxer, turned to boxing won the superfly title in his 4th or 5th fight and then went on to become the best bantam in the world for the best part of half a decade in the late 90's up until about 2003-4. Would have beaten Marquez handily IMO.
Saensak Muangsurin (born August 13, 1950) is a retired professional boxer from Phetchabun, Thailand. He is a former WBC light welterweight champion, who set a world record by winning the world title in only his 3rd professional fight. There you go, he WAS Thai.