Not too long ago i started to get deeper into the light flyweight division's history in terms of footage than ever before. Apart from today's fighters, the past titlists were only names from records or articles/books to me. I've watched what i can from youtube, and saw some great things, and some fighters i rate in less regard, naturally. In a book i have, on the light flyweight division it reads- 'the wba crowned its first champion within four months of the wbs, and soon produced one of the outstanding champions of the decade in the Japanese Yoko Gushiken.' I never checked him out first, but because of that passage i was sort of excited to get to see some of him. The first fight i saw was against a Thai fighter named Mintsayarm Haw Mahachai. Whilst i am not sure of the level of his opponent, i am sure of the level of the performance by Gushiken, to put it simply, a masterclass. I watched a few more including a quality performance over Sang-Il Chung, one against Jaime Rios, and his title losing effort against Pedro Flores. I think he was one of the most skilled technicians i have seen. I can't get enough of the man right now. A complete fighter in a stylistic sense most definitely, a southpaw as well. Gushiken can release punches in bunches when he has his man against the ropes, can box rings around a come forward type fighter, has an accurate jab, can mix it up, and can produce a devastating moment of skill to end a fight. In his fight against Mahachai he reminded of Wilfredo Gomez, only southpaw. And it might just be me at times in other bouts i saw shades of Joe Calzaghe. I would like to ask some of the posters who know more of him- seen s though he had a relatively short career, winning the title fast and making a good number of defenses before being dethroned, what are your thoughts on how he lost the title? I thought he was schooling Flores for the most part of the first seven rounds, (maybe dropping round five, but maybe not) until he was hit with some hard shots and put down quite heavily, it wasn't long before he was back in the fight and boxing well and he was stopped eventually in round 12 when his corner threw in the towel. Could he have weathered it and continued, or was he losing steam? Was he at the peak of his powers at the time of the bout? Not a great resume does he posess, but he beat every man he ever faced. I personally rate Chang as the greatest in the division's short history, but let's just say i have only have Roberto Duran in my avatar, this may change
I'm bumping this **** up until Mantequilla and Sweet Scientist see it, AlFrancis and Sweet Pea i know must think highly of this somewhat forgotten master of the ring.
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. I've lethargically cut and pasted an old post of mine on Gushiken here. For the most part a big fan of him as a fighter, though he could look hesitant and out of sorts occasionally. Not sure what to make of the Flores losses to be honest.he was certainly struggling with the weight more than anything by then, but he had that demolition of very dangerous and bigger Vargas just before them. He still had more to offer at a higher weight had he not retired is my guess.
Thank you very much for the post Mante, my personal opinion is the same as yours on him destroying Carbajal, i think he would school him before the stoppage personally, and he'd take liberties with Gonzalez after taking a few shots possibly and stop him ultimately. I haven't seen Yuh, can't get him on youtube, i'm a bit devastated. I think Gushiken is my favourite fighter at this weight now, but i think Chang would beat him, that man is (to steal a line from yourself) a colossus. Though i might favour Gushiken to come through a hard earned decision against Zapata, hard to say though. Very nice post from you there even though it was from an earlier thread, i knew i could learn from you on this man. One thing i like that Gushiken does against a man standing off him trying to be defensive is the straight left to the body followed by the right hook upstairs, a bit of a classic/basic way to open up a man, but he seems to have had it down to a tee. I really don't wanna believe the food poisoning stuff!
Cheers for the good stuff fella's; Gushiken is a fighter I've read about but seen too little of to make an accurate judgement, though what you've stated about him matches up with the snippets I know. What fights of his would you's recommmend watching? Same for Chang, Watanabe and Zapata, my knowledge of the lower weights is a bit sketchy at times.
There is quite a bit of Chang on youtube, from some footage you would think he is just a wild bull going for a ko, that's certainly how he beat Zapata, but i think he knew that boxing with Zapata is hardly a strategy to be undertaken in all seriousness, so he employed the right gameplan there. He actually could box a little bit, bt was certainly an aggressive fighter overall, his main boxing attributes where his ability to make room for accurate shots, he has heart and plenty of strength. This fight is a classic, check it all out- [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6lUf_MNKwc[/url] You can also get quite a bit of Zapata, he employs a defense and style similar to Pernell Whittaker at his best, though Whittaker has more and was more active (over the spread of his career), more effective and far more versatile in my view. Watanabe was one of the most skilled super-flyweights i have seen, his fleet footedness and southpaw countering skills look class, but like a lot of great boxers, they can be hit. I'd still take him over most at 115, though i need to see his fight with Gilberto Roman for my own eyes. Gushiken is the man i am most impressed with as a skilled technician of the lot, though Chang for me seems the hardest to beat, a fight between the two would be something special.
Thanks teeto , I''l check those out later in a bit more depth, still reeling about Arguello but we'll leave that...... Gushiken isn't in the IBHOF is he? A bit of travesty considering how highly he's regarded surely?
Just a bit of a travesty i'd say yes. But then again i'm not too sure how highly he is regarded on a widespread scale. But clearly level headed posters on here who are knowledgeable of the man would seemingly agree he is worthy. Definitely when others who are arguably considerably lesser than him are in there. And yeah, reeling about Alexis, this is my thread, and talk of Arguello will never be turned back! Really though, what a sudden shock to us all.
never seen this guy, heard abit about him but i will be sure to check him out cheers Teeto and Mante also ill bump it up for Sweet Pea and AlFrancis to have a look like you wanted
