Yoko Gushiken

Some performance though, Chang must be credited with how he never gave Zapata an inch imo.

 

Flea, if you want to know something about Gushiken, I think the best thing you could do is read this marvelous write up by out fellow ESB'er Mantequilla. You won't find a better piece on the man (hope Mante doesn't mind me cutting and pasting). Here it is below

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Gushiken was for the most part a complete technically sound boxer-puncher.Maybe somewhere in between Ebihara and Watanabe in terms of style, if we were to compare him to other japanese fighters.

Moved pretty well, kept both hands up, pretty good jab, but he often used it as more of a range finder\distraction so he could draw leads and then slip and counter with his straight left.

Also had a great right hook and was just very tidy in general as far as his punching form goes.Like watanabe he had excellent straight left\right hook combinations.

One odd thing about him is that in a lot of his fights he could look very fluid, with excellent up close defensive radar and slipping\countering;getting punches off effortlessly, then in others he was a lot more methodical and rigid with his offense and seemed unwilling or unable to let his hands go.His fight with the mediocre aniceto vargas was appaling because of this, until gushiken finally opened up over the last few rounds and gave his limited foe a horrible beating.

This was mostly against fighters looking to spoil and survive(think how Eubank could look against similar types of fighters) or an unpredictable slickster like Alfonso Lopez, who had Gushiken looking quite confused for three or four rounds before Yoko sneakily followed up the straight left to the body he had been focusing almost solely on with a viscious right hook up top.Masterfully worked, but he hadn't looked good until that.

I thnk overall, Gushiken would do his best work against more conventionally skilled boxer-punchers and pressure fighters that he could settle into a groove against and pick apart.The more unorthodox fighters and cuties would be tougher for him.The fights with Martin Vargas and Alfonso Lopez highlight this well i think.

Chang and zapata would have been really tough for him at light Fly, but i think he would destroy Carbajal, and very comfortably beat Chiquita and German Torres.Yuh would have been widely outpointed, but the grainte chinned Korean goes the distance comfortably and hashis movements through sheer workrate.

He was more than strong enough to have stepped up and campaigned in the deep Flyweight division at the time, which i think he should have done as the main general criticism that could be levelled at him is his lack of a real defining fight and overall fairly average to mediocre competition(though hardly as bad as Finito's or Galaxy's..i'd say more on par with Watanabe's)

He could also be criticised for the way he bowed out against very ordinary Flores, though weight making had taken its toll by then and he had apparently become totally burned out and disinterested in the sport as well, which i believe he cited as the main reason he would be retiring instead of stepping up to Flyweight.

Those excuses probbaly have some weight to them, but i thnk the fact he was so impressive against Vargas right before those fights make it look bad.

as far as a fight with Lopez goes, i think he would have matched up well stylistically with Lopez ultra precise, but mechanical textbook style.Howver, Lopez is a lot better than the standup technicians like Marcano that Gushiken looked really good against.It's a close fight imo, maybe Gushikens likely strength advantage and greater elusiveness up close would swing things his way.THough he was past his prime, the way Lopez looked the first time he fought a fighter clearly stronger than him worries me.

One final thing about Gushiken i've read\heard about several times is that there were accusations his camp deliberately food poisoned a lot of his challengers.Not sure if it was ever proven, as its tough to find out much about it on the net.Oh and he also had a real viscious habit of hitting fighters when they were down.And a great 'fro.

 

Mantequilla pasted and copied that into my Gushiken thread as well, quality write-up.

 

On Chang, I'd suggest watching the first Zapata fight. Great contrast in styles and probably as close to a visualisation of the mythical Pernell Whitaker-Roberto Duran fight as we are likely to get. Thought Chang was robbed there though (which would never happen to Roberto against Whitaker!).

I also liked Chang's first fight with Chitalada, a nice action packed fight.

The series with Torres is worth getting too, Torres is a really good fighter, and I thought he was able to beat Chang in their second fight, where Chang admittedly wasn't at his best.

 

Haha, yeah it's doing the rounds. It's worth it though. Great write up. Anyone know where Mante's gone btw? Haven't seen him here for a while...

 

Maybe he's having a holiday, we'll know soon enough.

 

i keep meaning to get some Gushiken but never do, hopefully ill rememebr soon

 

It's a classic that fight isn't it, Tokashiki held an alphabet strap at the weight as well. Zapata beat Chang yeah in their initial bout, but i've never seen it. I know Zapata it is said was in no shape to fight to his standard in the rematch, and true, but Chang i think learned from it and just look how he doesn't let Zapata even think about getting set, Zapata sometimes started slow anyway, and Chang just thought i'm getting him out of here. From a low centre of gravity, he just lets his fast and accurate hands go from all angles.

Then you see in the fight i posted, that he had boxing ability, he uses that footwork you mentioned to make space for some technically decent shots down the pipe. I reckon he'd beat Gushiken to be honest.

 

The Zapata from the second Chang fight was about on par with the De La Hoya from the Pacquiao fight. It's very evident just from his movements and activity. He hardly even shows the abillity to stay on his toes, which he almost constantly did. He was a sitting duck for Chang that night.

 

I know what you mean, respect your opinion as well, but to go as far as saying he was as bad as De La Hoya vs Pacquiao i can't quite agree on. Zapata went on to put in great work after that night, albeit with some extra poundage. Could you imagine Oscar moving back up to 154 and performing to a high level now? I couldn't. And it was just recently before that Zapata beat him. I'm not saying you're flat out wrong, but i rate this win, it deserves to be rated in my opinion.