Slickest Asian Fighter Ever?

WhataRock · Jul 11, 2020

lora said: ↑

An interesting question as Asia hasn't really been known to produce defensive specialists or lots of typical slickster types, though it has produced plenty of skilled fighters.

The better Korean fighters tended to be aggressive fighters favouring various modes of swarming\pressure.

Moon wasn't remotely slick, Chang had many moves reminiscent of Marcel-Dejesus II Duran, and had the natural radar and potential to evolve into a very cute fighter, but didn't do it(no Arcel-Brown combo to keep him on the right track and polish rough edges) and Yuh was very technically sound in a methodical Chavez-esque way.

Both had cute\smooth defensive moves but you wouldn't really be describing either as a great defensive fighter, or a slickster as one of the first attributes you might think of.Chang was too wild and offensively chaotic, where Yuh was often more "no-nonsense" textbook rather than looking overly slick\smooth(at least to me, i know there are some who do find him a smooth fighter).

Hong was a jack of all trades with some nice movement when he bothered to use it.Chong-Pal Park was capable of nice well-balanced movement, upper body slips and combinations, but could also be open, sloppy and panicky.He didn't have the poise of a truly notable and talented defensive\slick fighter...more a talented skilled boxer-puncher with problems in mental\technical consistency

Chan-Hee Park would probably be one of the hardest two of the Koreans to actually outbox in a fight that remained on the outside, most well known for outboxing the great defensive master Miguel Canto while only having a handful of fights...a great natural talent.He was similar to Chong-Pal in strengths and weaknesses, but with more outfighting flair and pure boxing nous.Great reflexes, feints and capable of throwing beautiful punches, but also of being sloppy and was never a mentally strong fighter, lacking dedication, durability and stamina.Much more suited to fighting boxers than brawlers or big punchers.

He's a good pick for the slickest Korean.

The other would be 130lb nearly man Chung-il Choi, but he was more of a poor mans Hearns or Junior Jones kind of fighter.Lanky, great accurate one-two, vicious power, yet lacking in any real defensive chops beyond footwork and often too aggressive considering his lack of any real durability.Not really a cute fighter.

Dong-Kyun Yum was probably the most disciplined "pure boxer" of the Koreans, but just a decent fighter in terms of talent really.

The Japanese have produced a lot of technicians, but they tended to more along the offensive-minded standup boxer route, controlling fights with educated footwork, great jabs and straight punches rather than lots of advanced slipping and countering.Better described as elegant than slick imo.

Ohba, Saijo, Kobayashi etc...Ohba being the best.Saijo could be elegant, but he wasn't slick imo and often too willing to abandon defence in favour of trading when he got hit hard.

Lots of pressure fighters too, but while they tend to be compact and technically sound on a basic level, also tend to be too simplistic and willing to slug to be considered.Harada by far the best and truly great at his best, but he was rarely all that slick, despite being versatile and possessing a beautiful short jab, and deadly right hand counter over the top.

Kuniaki Shibata was an interesting boxer-puncher, quite similar to Chong-Pal Park regarding strengths\weaknesses...but with smoother, more technically sound Napoles-esque head movement when he was on point.Also a very nice combination puncher.Tecnically worth a watch for sure, but a bit nervy and inconsistent defensively to be called a top-notch defensive\slick fighter.Also had a style which was crying out for a great jab and he a weak range finder most of the time.

Susumu Hanagata was probably the best example of a more typical stick and move cutie.Nice mover, always disciplined on the outside, good solid technical boxing, less upright and hittable than a lot of the japanese...but a very bland style imo and lacked the elegant jabbing and workrate of the better standup-boxer punchers the country produced.Worth watching though if you consider pure boxers like Edwin Viruet and Vilomar Fernandez to be slick.

Japan also produced some cultured boxer-punchers that were mostly about outfighting(infighting tends to be a weakness for many japanese boxer-punchers...Duran or Starling slick infighters here), without being jab oriented.Gushiken and Watanabe the best of these, with Kawashima a lesser but still pretty skilled exponent that did use the jab more, a sort of hybrid.Gushiken and Watanabe tended to have very educated stylish footwork and were more about drawing punches with deliberately slow or short jabs and lots of little footwork shifts, then countering from the outside.

Watanabe used his feet more for defence, and tended to be more loose and reflexive when he had to slip punches...halfway between being naturally slick and winging it.Gushiken was slower of foot and reflex, but often more technically sound in his upperbody movement, lots of nice slipping and countering while still in punching range during his best fights.

Watanabe was a beautifully smooth, effortles combination puncher at his best, where Gushiken was more methodical.Both well worth watching technically.

Philippines has produced some solid technicians too, Elorde, Navarette and Penalosa probably the cutest as far as upper-body work goes.All had skilled slipping and countering abilities, nice glove defence etc...but the latter two were pretty flat footed and prone to being frustrated with movement.Elorde a bit more of a jack of all trades.Pacquiao by the time he hit 135 had maximised his technical potential and developed a certainly intuitive sense of movement and slipping punches that is worth mentioning, though it doesn't match what a young Chang looked capable of at times.

The Thai's have had notable fighters from all across the spectrum, from the ridiculously stiff and immensely "un"-slick brawler\punchers Muangsurin, Galaxy and Chionoi to the aforementioned Payakaroon, who though a partier and let-down as a pro boxer definitely had a great natural rhythm and smooth reflexive style...and the consummately smooth and underrated Sahaprom.

Kingpetch was a very elegant standup boxer, but like Ohba probably not someone most would describe as slick, and not really that great defensively.chatchai Sasakul, though like Payakaroon a lazy fighter that should have achieved more, had a very neat and tidy, cute style.His first fight with Arbachakov is a classic chessmatch.

If we include the central Asian former Soviet states, Grigorian is worth a mention too.Unfortunately didn't challenge himself outside of the WBO until he was washed up and ready to cash in, he was a skilled technician with cute footwork and upperbody movement.Though as his injuries piled up his punching became more and more ugly and Calzaghe like.

I'll have forgotten a few worth a mention and there are some interesting up and coming fighters like Monster inoue that are worth keeping an eye on.Chris John i don't is really worth much of a rating, he's certainly capable of moving well and being safety-first, but i don't find his offensive or defensive work to be slick.He's a poorer version of Hanagata.
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Wow what an excellent post

Tin_Ribs · Jul 11, 2020

We need to harass Mante out of retirement.

Mendoza · Jul 11, 2020

Shimming Zou was a pretty slick modern flyweight. He won gold at flyweight at the Olympic in 2012. Near perfect for the amateur system thanks to his quickness and defense, Zou's problem as a pro is he had no power at all. Just one KO win. That's it. At one point there was a lot of buzz around him.

George Crowcroft · Jul 11, 2020

Shibata, Penalosa and Samart are the best picks in my fairly uneducated opinion.

Big Ukrainian · Jul 11, 2020

Nikolay Valuev

Amos-san · Jul 11, 2020

Yong Kang Kim or Samart Paykaroon.

Mike Cannon · Jul 11, 2020

scartissue said: ↑

Shozo Saijyo
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Good call, remember him well, one of the first of his nation to break through, a pioneer of sorts.

Boxing Prospect · Jul 11, 2020

Hiroshi Kawashima deserves a mention. Dubbed "Untouchable" in Japan, he learned early his chin couldn't take a good shot and developed a defensive style as a result
For a time it looked like Mark Anthony Barriga was going to be in the mix for this...and then he lost and vanished...properly slippery guy

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Slickest Asian Fighter Ever?

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