Any thoughts on this overlooked fight from Japan? Tatsuyoshi has been involved in some memorable battles and this was one of them when he fought fellow countryman Yasuei Yakushiji for his WBC bantamweight title. This was an excellent back and forth scrap. This content is protected
I know there's a high quality version of it in the Tatsuyoshi movie but I don't know of an easy way to watch it. I would say this fight, both Zaragoza fights and his fight with Sirimongkhon Iamthuam are all must watch fights. He's got some others that are pretty good but those are the stand out ones I would recommend to boxing fans who aren't fans of Tatsuyoshi or the lower weight classes.
His fights with Victor Rabanales are also stand outs that are must watch as well. For me Tatsuyoshi was Japan's version of Arturo Gatti. Just a fun action fighter. It would have been nice to have seen Joichiro Tatsuyoshi vs Wayne McCullough (who would end up beating Yakushiji).
The Rabanales fights fall into the pretty good category imo. Tatsuyoshi vs McCullough would've been fantastic but I'm not sure there was ever really a chance for it to happen due to all of Tatsuyoshi's retirements and hiatus.
Quick sampling it looks like the guy in white throws one punch at a time and the other guy throws combinations.
I discovered this gem back in 2012 when TBS Japan aired it before the Ioka vs. Yaegashi fight: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/kazuto-ioka-vs-akira-yaegashi-rbr.411146/
Had he gotten the decision and the title against Yakushiji I think there would have been a good possibility of him fighting McCullough. I personally had Tatsuyoshi beating Yakushiji by a narrow margin. It would have been an amazing fight had Tatsuyoshi and McCullough squared off in 1995.
Ah I misunderstood. Yes if Tatsuyoshi won the decision then he probably would've faced McCullough at some point.
