Yuri Arbachakov vs Jiro Watanabe (super flyweight)

Watanabe, for me. Archabakov was a bit too correct; Watanabe had more versatility.

 

Watanabe outclasses Arbachakov, who tends to get overrated on this forum. Yuri's resume was very thin.

 

Arbachakov is impressive as far as footage goes, IMO he looks amazing.... back then in here I found Watanabe the one to be overrated, he rarely is mentioned anymore so that is no longer true...

 

Yuri is better IMO. He's my pick

 

Watanabe has a better resume, at a higher weight division, but my word Yuri looks the business on film. Tough pick.

 

Inside game was actually lacking on Arbachakov. He was deadly at midrange, but hardly a master infighter.

While he passes the eye test, the fact remains that his resume is lacking.

Watanabe was more dynamic imo and a more complete technician.

 

While this is the sort of excellently skilled boxer-puncher match-up that looks great on paper, I tend to think the subtleties of each of their styles would have a good chance of creating a very tentative clash of styles and a love/hate it sort of bout.

Both of these guys had similar weaknesses as boxer-punchers...First of all they both lacked a truly versatile, active, points-scoring jab that can make the difference in close rounds. 80/90% of the time, they stuck to using it as a baiting punch that they would deliberately throw short to draw leads with, or just generally distract and find range with. Jiro was the worst of the two for this, but they both did it no matter the style of opponent, and what made it frustrating was every so often they would show off a stiffer, precision jab that let you know they had it in the toolset. Basically, both subscribed to the Wilfredo Gomez style of box-puncher jabbing, which is not my favourite as it leaves a fighter without a safer points-scoring weapon to fall back on if they aren't in top form with the rest of their game.

Second...both could be guilty of drifting into a one-paced, not active enough approach as they looked for the best punch-picking opportunities. Lots of not fully snapped out jabs falling short, while they meticulously control range with their excellent footwork and look to sharp-shoot with single-shots or brief combinations. If the ****ers would just work the jab, they would open up those opportunities easier! Arbachakov was the worst for this...he'd slip into a one-paced groove for big chunks of fights almost regardless of the style he was facing, and was often the lower output fighter. With Jiro, it seemed to be more of an issue only against other boxer types that weren't intending to exchange too much unless they felt they were the ones in control, and had a good jab of their own to use (Poonterat I and to a lesser extent II, and Roman, though Jiro was more generally a level past his best there), if he had someone more active or aggressive he could be very active and fluid with his combinations and counters.

So, I see a fight that is going to have a helluva lot of dancing, shifting and not falling for feints as both rigidly try and be the one to control range/exchanges. Not helped by both being hard hitting fighters, though there would be questions on Arbachakov carrying all of his power up if this is a hypothetical 115 fight and not pound for pound fantasy scenario.

Physically not a lot of difference, both have great stamina and are tough, but Jiro does have the edge there in overall size. He's also got faster hands (combinations and single power shots) and feet. Early Arbachakov could keep up, particularly with the latter, but he seemed to slow physically quite quickly into his reign...not too surprising considering he was already 25-26 when he faced Kittikassem, and with a long amateur career behind him. Incidentally, for someone with such a technical style, I don't believe Watanabe had a substantial amateur career at all, though he did turn pro quite late at 24, just like Yuri.

Technically...offensively, as said the use of the jab is similar, and not imo likely to work well for either fighter here. Both have great straight power shots and hooks that they can throw in a variety of ways to head and body (though neither are dedicated body punchers) and good uppercuts at mid-range. Watanabe was far more consistent at combining his straight lead with the hook into different multi-punch combinations if he had an open or aggressive target that forced his hand to keep them respectful, while Arbachakov stuck more to patient right-hand sharpshooting - his hook was a beautiful, destructive punch when he used it, but the guy could go long periods of fights where it would be missing in action (possibly this was due to his hand issues). Watanabe's left-lead/hook combinations really are fluid and right up there among the best of all boxer-punchers, I just have real question marks on this being the sort of fight he'll regularly use them. Both work best on the outside and at mid-range; they can fight inside, but it's not a favoured option, and they could look more hittable in there.

Footwork...both are great, with the full arsenal of directional capabilities, half-steps, lateral shifts, pivots - absolutely elite stuff. Jiro faster, but Yuri no slouch early in his reign either, though after the Nam-hoon Cha defence there wasn't much in the way of true ring circling. Upper-body movement, glove/arm defence and parrying are all strong. Both great at making fighters miss minimalistically with little shifts of footwork and upper-body. Watanabe had the better reflexes, and I tend to think was more loose at the waist and naturally talented in terms of instinctive ability to get into good defensive positions overall, but he was also occasionally the sloppier, more reckless of the two defensively. He's more likely to get tagged by something he doesn't fully see coming because he's swayed or rolled carelessly at mid-range, while Arbachakov's issue is more likely to be with getting out of the way of punches in time.

Their losses only provide so much info, as they all have some caveats to them. 31 years old Arbachakov had been out of the ring for 15 months because of a severe hand injury when he came back and lost his rematch (a mostly competitive, but very clear 8-4/9-3 sort of fight where he was hurt a few times) with the slick, mobile Sasakul, who he had defeated by a very close decision in their first fight in a highly technical, if somewhat methodical, Flyweight classic.

Watanabe's early pre-peak first title shot loss to Chul-ho Kim was a blatantly bad hometown decision (albeit not a one-sided fight) against a fighter with a style not at all applicable to Arbachakov. Kim had a more unorthodox style that was quite typical of many South Korean fighters of the time: an awkward blend of ring-centre baiting and potshotting, rugged pressure fighting, and sudden bursts of swarming with unusually angled punches. There are things to criticise Jiro for in that fight, though not much that applies stylistically to fighting Yuri, other than the already mentioned issues with the jab. Jiro clearly outlands Kim with power shots for most of the fight, yet a steady jab piling up points might have kept the judges from finding enough rounds to result in a very close UD for Kim. The fight with Roman (six years younger) came at a time when a 31-year-old Watanabe seemed to have lost a step, though how much of that was physical and how much was eroding dedication/desire, I'm not sure - he did say after it that he had initially intended to seek a rematch, but started smoking again which brought the revelation he no longer had the will to compete. In his last three defences, he didn't look quite as fast, reflexive or consistently sharp offensively against Solano, looked good against Kazuwa (an overmatched opponent with domestic rep at stake if he looked bad), then outright flat-footed, sluggish reflexively and lackadaisical in his previous defence against Suk Hwan-Yun. I think you can argue Roman always had the style/ability to be at least 50/50, but regardless, he doesn't fight too much like Arbachakov and was willing to adopt a high-workrate, in and out, punching in bunches method against a more sluggish, inactive Watanabe when he realised he didn't have to worry about a stiff jab stopping him in his tracks too often.

Ultimately, I suspect Watanabe will have too much of a combination of physical ability, power and technical skill for an Arbachakov moving up to 115. P4P, I lean towards Jiro as well, but it's a lot closer and not one I have a clear opinion of a winner on.