The 1980s Light Flyweight Champs. WBC Champion Zapata vs WBA Champion Gushiken Who will win this matchup?
I think the two most likely outcomes here are Gushiken by KO or Zapata on points. Bujia didn’t exactly have a cast iron chin so I can see Yoko catching him at some point over 15 and certainly taking a win in a series, but in a one off fight with a focussed Zapata, who was more slippery than an eel covered in oil, I’m picking Zapata to take a points win.
Gushiken was a very textbook, fundamentally centred slip and counter type. He could do everything really up to a point including pressing the fight behind his jab but I tend to think that Zapata's idiosyncratic style and eccentric talent would throw him off. He took a long time to get going against Alfonso Lopez, who was very cute, smooth and defensively sharp, until Lopez's chin let him down like it often did eg the Espadas fights. He didn't show Gushiken much and so was able to make him struggle somewhat imo despite Gushiken technically having a lot of the right tools to get the job done. I'd bank on Zapata to do the same and more, but it's equally possible that he loses focus and gets caught or sleepwalks for stretches enough to make the fight close as against Laciar.
I honestly think Zapata is awful for him style wise, and he would pick up on the same right hand shots that Flores and even Marcano did. Like Tin said, he could also be confused by cute ring generalship. He also fought, and beat, a higher level of fighters. It's hard for me not to favour him here. I love watching Gushiken fight but I definitely think he is overrated. Oguma and Saijo are both better fighters than him from Japan, yet barely get discussed here. The power of media personality I guess.
You know Yoko fouled Lopez hitting him while he was down with an uppercut to the face and it was a hard shot. He should have been disqualified right there.
