Last week we looked at which fighters during the history of the Super Flyweight division we would have loved to have plonked into today's boxing scene.
The idea was a fun one, and we came across a number of interesting answers as we looked at some of the legends of the divisions. This week we're doing a similar idea though moving down the scales to 108lbs, to answer a very similar question. "Who... from the history of the Light Flyweight division, would you have liked to have seen fighting today?" Lee: "There are two obvious choices for me, and I can't split them. Jung Koo Chang and Myung Woo Yuh. Of the two men I think Chang was the better fighter, the more exciting, and the more skilled. Him in today's boxing scene against the likes of Hiroto Kyoguchi, Felix Alvarado, Kenshiro Teraji, Elwin Soto and Carlos Canizales would have provided a lot of amazing action. So many thrilling fights. Sadly however I think Chang would have been a short term fighter in any era. He famously retired when he was just 25, and whilst I think his career would have been prolonged in today's boxing world, with fewer fights per year, his out of the ring activities would have caught up with him. Yuh on the other hand was the longer term option. He still looked really good in his later bouts, and had a more serious professional side to him. His style would have also gelled amazingly with the modern day guys and I think he would have faced more of the top guys than Chang and he would have travelled for more of the big fights. Neither man was a huge fan of using their passport, but I see Yuh as the type of fighter who would have gotten on board with DAZN more than Chang. Either man in today's world would have been amazing. I'd have loved to have had either in this golden era of Light Flyweights". Takahiro: "Yoko Gushiken. There is no other answer for me, Yoko Gushiken. I think Gushiken wouldn't have been able to have such a long reign in today's world but I think he would have been less active, wouldn't have burned out as quickly as he did and would have hada much longer career had he been around now. He would also have been able to fight some amazing fighters. One of Yoko's biggest issues was he came along with the division was too new. There wasn't enough top fighters in the division in the 1970's for him to beat a lot of amazing fighters and this was a shame. If he fought today he would have suitable opponents, big name fights, and his style would have been so good to watch. Sign me up for Yoko Gushiken Vs Sho Kimura! Easy answer. Yoko Gushiken." Scott: "I'm going in a slightly different direction to the other two guys. They have both selected legends, and are looking at the world title picture. I'm instead going to go with Yo Sam Choi. If Choi was still fighting Korean boxing would still be relevant, and Choi wouldn't have passed away in the sad way that he did. Choi isn't "legend" like like Chang, Yuh and Gushiken, but he was one of the last fighters who cared about Korean boxing, and one of the nations last shining lights in the sport. I would have loved for him to have been around now, for him to have been relevant in 2020, and for him to be given opportunities to showcase his skills in the US. I don't think he would have held his own with the top fighters of today, but he would have been great on the Oriental title level, and as a regular contender knocking on the door at the top. Also I genuinely don't imagine the various medical issues that cost Choi his life being repeated in 2020. I would have love Korean boxing to be big now, and Choi would have been ideal. His backers seemed to fail him so often that I think he would have travelled willingly and flown the Korean flag around the world. He would have been the figure head for Korean boxing now."
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Yesterday we posted the first of our 2 part feature comparing the world title reigns of Shinsuke Yamanaka [山中慎介] and Yoko Gushiken [具志堅用高], as Yamanaka looks to record his 12th defense of the WBC Bantamweight title. Now we have a look at the second part, which compares the latter half of the reigns by both men,, as well as our take on the overall reigns of both men. Eighth defence
Ninth defence
Tenth defence
Eleventh defense
Twelfth defense
Thirteenth defence
Fourteenth defenseOn March 8th 1981 Gushiken's great run as champion came to an end as he took on Flores in a rematch and was stopped in the 12th round. The exciting champion had been figured out by Flores who countered him with ease, forcing a standing count and later forcing Gushiken's corner to save their spent man, who was dropped just before the stoppage. Gushiken would retire soon afterwards without fighting again, despite only being 25 years old at the time of the loss. His all action style and accumulated damage seemed to slowing down and the fighter chose to walk away rather the risk harming his excellent legacy. Sadly Flores's streaky results showed and he would lose his following two bouts before retiring himself with a record of 17-9 (5), failing to defend the title that he had taken from Gushiken Whilst Gushiken's record does stand alone for now there are plenty of criticism that can be levelled at his reign. Firstly the fact the division was really new and lacked talent, had he been around a decade later he'd have been in a boom period for Light Flyweights along with Jung Koo Chang and Myung Woo Yuh, he faced rather poor competition. He beat the first two WBA champions during his reign but the only other men who went on the really achieve anything above regional level were Yong Hyun Kim and Pedro Flores, who beat Gushiken then lost the belt in hid first defense.
Another major criticism is the relative fortune that Gushiken had at times. His first two defenses were both split decision wins that could have gone the other way and the first Flores fight was also razor thin. He was also pushed all the way by Kim. There was a run of 7 straight stoppage defenses, but there was also those close and controversial wins, that resulted in rematches with Rios, Marcano and Flores. Although there was 13 successful defenses, he did only defend the belt against 10 fighters. Arguably the most impressive part of Gushikens's reign wasn't actually the number of defenses but the time span in which he did it. It took just 4 years and 2 days for Gushiken to rack up 13 defenses, something that is almost unheard of nowadays. And back then the fights were 15 rounders! Side by side it's fair to say that Yamanaka's opponents have been better than those Gushiken's. The likes of Jaime Rios and Rafael Pedroza and Yong-Hyun Kim were solid fighters but they hardly compare to the likes of Anselmo Moreno, Liborio Solis or Suriyan Sor Rungvisai. It's worth noting that no one Yamanaka beat went on to win world titles, at least so far, but with wins against 6 former champions and the need for only one rematch it's hard to argue with Yamanaka have a better reign. Yes Yamanaka has faced some terrible opponents, such as Santillan and Nieves, but they were certainly no worse than Aniceto Vargas or Tito Abella, both of whom retired with more losses than ![]() One of the big talking points ahead of the March 2nd bout between WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (26-0-2, 18) [山中慎介] and Mexican challenger Carlos Carlson (22-1, 13) is the fact that Yamanaka is closing in on the Japanese record number of world title defense. If, as many suspect, he gets passed Carlson he will just a fight away from tying the long standing record of Yoko Gushiken [具志堅用高], who recorded 13 world title defenses between 1976, when he won the WBA Light Flyweight title, and 1981, when he lost the title to Pedro Flores. Ahead of the bout with Carlson we've decided to compare the title reigns of Yamanaka and Gushiken looking at the opponents both men faced during their title runs. This is the first part of our 2-part feature and looks at the first 7 defenses by the two fighters, including videos of some select fights, and allowing fight fans a chance to see the two men in some of their most notable match ups. Title Win
First Defense
Second Defence
Third Defence
Fourth Defence
Fifth Defence
Sixth Defence
Seventh Defence
In part 2 of this feature, which will go up tomorrow, we will look the rest of the defenses of the two men, and look forward to the upcoming Yamanaka Vs Carlson bout.
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Oriental Opinions
This is just an opinion, maaaan! It's easy to share our opinions, and that's what you'll find here, some random opinion pieces Archives
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