Pearls of the Orient: The 20 greatest fighters to have come from the far East

1 - Pancho Villa, Phillipines, W88 L9 D5 ND3 - Beat flyweight great Jimmy Wilde so badly it's said that Jimmy didn't recognise his wife after the fight. Died just two years later aged 23. Arguably the greatest premature loss in the history of the sport.

2 - Fighting Harada, Japan, W55 L7 - Defines durability and pressre. Arguably should be #1 on this list, certainly the greatest ever Japaneese. Wins over Kingpetch, the undbeaten Jofre, Medel, Carballo at Fly and Bantam & eventually added the featherweight WBC belt at the second time of asking.


3 - Khaosai Galaxy, Thailand, W49 L1 - Probably impossible to discourage, never stopped. 19 defences and retired as champion.

4 - Gabriel Elorde, Phillipines, W88, L27, D2 - Still the Phillipines favourite son? Maybe. Twenty years near the top speaks volumes and his early loss to Saddler is nothing to be ashamed off. At 130 he was close to unbeatable racking up 9 defences - although Ortiz proved to big and good at LW.

5 - Manny Pacquiao, Phillipines, W45 L3 D2 - Might find himself punted from the top five in 11 days time with his biggest test coming up, but to this point looks the part, what a fighter, the destroyer.

6 - Myung-Woo Yuh, South Korea, W38 L1 - Hugely underated in my view, though many will think I have him to high. A spartan. A true pro. Chased both Gonzalez and Carbajal from what I can pick up, but it was not to be, so Yuh had to make do with 17 consecutive defences before losing - and regaining - his title in Japan.

7 - Yoko Gushiken, Japan, W23 L1 - One of those guys who got out on top! Beat Guzman for the WBA light-fly title, racked up 13 defences. The "Fierce Eagle" read the writing on the wall, retired prematuraly, probably.

8 - Jiro Watanabe, Japan, W26 L2 - Nothing to lose between him, Gushiken and Yuh in my view, this guy was probably the best boxer of the three, and a southpaw to boot. Unified the super-fly titles and was unjustly stripped. 12 consecutive defences cemented his legacy.

9 - Pone Kingpetch, Thailand, W33 L7 - I love this guy. Three time flyweight champ of the world between '60 and '65 including one victory over the great Harada.

10 - Junk-Koo Chang, South Korea, W38 L4 - The Hawk, a pure-bred fighting machine. 15 defences of his WBC light fly title. Avenged his first pro defeat taking out the great Panamanian Zapata in only three rounds for the title. He was 20 years old. Beat multiple titlist in a glittering career.

11 - Chartchai Chionoi, Thailand, W63 L19 D3 - Held the 112lb title three times between '66 and '74! A great and enduring fighter. Beat a Scotsman (McGowan) in a fight, twice, so obviously a very serious individual!

12 - Sot Chitalada, Thailiand, W26 L4 D1 - This guy was a bit of a freak. Possibly shed more weight for boxing than any other fighter in history, but was a cracking technical puncher. Fighting at title level from his 5th fight in a losing effort v Chang. At his peak seems close to unbeatable at 112 until weight drain caught up with him

13 - Samarat Payakarun, Thailand, W21 L2 - In a list made purely for talent, he might be top 8, but Payakarun let it all go just in time to get beaten by Fenech (Who he dropped early). Beat former champ Vorasingh on his pro debut, and KO'd no less of a fighter than Lupe Pintor to lift the title. A great puncher and a great fighter and a great waste.

14 - Luisito Espinosa, Philippines, W40, L7 - Too low? Quite possible. The '95 redemption victory for the Featherweight title is truly impressive. Also had a short run as bantam champ.

15 - Hiroshi Kobayashi, Japan, W60 L10 D4 - An apparently skillful boxer with 6 defences at superfeather.


16 - Koichi Wajima, W31 L6 D1 - An unorthodox fighter with a strange story, Wajima turned pro at 25. I don't really know a great deal about this fighter, but his run at light-middle is decent, with 5 defences and an avenged loss versus Albarado plus the unification of two of the belts during his second run speaks for him.

17 - Sung-Kil Moon, South Korea, W20 L2 - A proper slugger and a two weight world champ. Prone to cuts and would probably not be as successful under current rulesets. Overated in my view

18 - Yoshio Shirai, Japan W47 L8 D2 - The first Japaneese world champ, Shirai's story is fascinating, he is the seeming by-product of sports psychology in its infancy and possibly even some sort of faith healing. A Japaneese icon, 45,000 saw him win the flyweight title against the great Pascual Perez

19 - In-Jin Chi, South Korea, W31 L3 D1 - Another weight making crazy. Looked like featherweight giant in his WBC title confrontations with Brodie.

20 - Yutaka Niida, Japan, W23 L1 D3 - Current minimum belt holder...I ran out of names! We'll see though! Certainly we've seen here that Japan has the type of fighting heretige where it can be only a matter of time before the next great emerges.


So what do you think? Who have I missed?

Who is to high and to low?

 

I don't know him at all. I'll have a look. If it's as you say, he can certainly go in for Chi.

Yes, John is nothing less than an oversight. He should already be considered a lock for the back end of this list.