52 fight challenge: Week 30 - Wayne McCullough vs Yasuei Yakushiji

[Horse]

Wayne McCullough vs Yasuei Yakushiji.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrhflcxrjw

Watch and discuss.

[Horse]

Recent weeks' fights:

Week 29 - Duke McKenzie vs Dave McAuley: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=202398
Week 28 - Alan Rudkin vs Lionel Rose: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=202256
Week 27 - Brian Curvis vs Emile Griffith: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=202047
Week 26 - Maurice Hope vs Rocky Mattioli II: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=201894

Week 25 - Dave Charnley vs Joe Brown III: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=201665
Week 24 - Dennis Andries vs Jeff Harding I: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=201527
Week 23 - Henry Cooper vs Muhammad Ali I: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=201361
Week 22 - Steve Robinson vs Paul Hodkinson: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=201121
Week 21 - Pat Cowdell vs Salvador Sanchez: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=200952

Week 20 - Johnny Nelson vs Carl Thompson: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=200751
Week 19 - Charlie Magri vs Eleoncio Mercedes: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=200530
Week 18 - Barry McGuigan vs Eusebio Pedroza: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=200363
Week 17 - John Conteh vs Jorge Victor Ahumada: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=200128
Week 16 - Steve Collins vs Reggie Johnson: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=199947


British & Irish boxing 52 fight history knowledge challenge thread: http://boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=197079

[Horse]

Supplementary fight.

Wayne McCullough vs Alvin Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGZVlQPHxn8

[Counter-puncher]

Great, great choice, Horse. An absolute belter.

Yakushiji was a pretty decent fighter, this is a great style clash fought at an intense, lung-bursting pace. Really looking forward to seeing it again

[Counter-puncher]

If anyone wants to see another Wayne classic, the Zaragoza fight is a good one too. Well its not so much of a classic but a fascinating watch.

[Horse]

Great, great choice, Horse. An absolute belter.

Yakushiji was a pretty decent fighter, this is a great style clash fought at an intense, lung-bursting pace. Really looking forward to seeing it again

[garethhop]

Like many of these fights it was the first time watching this for me.

Great fight.

Had wayne 6-3 up and then just enjoyed the last three rounds. The 116-113 scorecard seemed right. Couldn't give it to the other guy though.

Cheers Horse.

[Horse]

McCullough - Yakushiji

1. 10 - 9
2. 10 - 9
3. 10 - 9
4. 10 - 9
5. 10 - 9
6. 10 - 9
7. 10 - 9
8. 10 - 9
9. 10 - 9
10. 10 - 9
11. 10 - 9
12. 10 - 9

120-108 McCullough


Enjoyable fight considering it was a whitewash (at least as far as my scoring goes). McCullough was busier throughout and landed with the better shots as well.

Yakushiji celebrating after every round was a bit annoying. Does a fighter raising their hands after a round has ended ever convince a judge to give them the round?

[davie]

Great, great choice, Horse. An absolute belter.

Yakushiji was a pretty decent fighter, this is a great style clash fought at an intense, lung-bursting pace. Really looking forward to seeing it again

Are there any fights you haven't seen?

[Counter-puncher]

Great, great choice, Horse. An absolute belter.

Yakushiji was a pretty decent fighter, this is a great style clash fought at an intense, lung-bursting pace. Really looking forward to seeing it again

Are there any fights you haven't seen?

Ha, loads mate, I obviously just crow really loud about the ones I have seen

[Counter-puncher]

I've misplaced my copy of the fight so haven't watched it yet. I remember thinking McCullough as the shorter man did an excellent job with the jab, using head movement and the up-jab to close the distance and let his hands go. And his workrate as ever was simply phenomenal, he just suffocated yakushiji, whose weakness was he didn't like working the full 3 minutes (I think he was big at the weight)

[handsofstone]

Excellent fight and a great performance of feinting and jabbing from McCullough,i had it 119-109,only giving Yakushiji the 11th,fought at a terrific pace from the start but Wayne was always in control,Yakushiji finished stronger than he started but McCullough still comfortably in control for the most part

[handsofstone]

Great performance from McCullough in the Brown fight too,especially considering he's been out for over 2 years prior,put Alvin down with a cracking left hook then finished him off with a liver shot,nice

[Autobarn]

Best McCullough fight is the epic 12 rounds with Jose Luis Bueno. The size and workrate of McCullugh versus the counter punching precision of Bueno, an early Nacho Beristain standout. It was a punishing fight and Wayne gave up on making bantamweight after this one. It was close and gruelling, one of the great fights staged in Britain for my money.

Beristain got his revenge in the memorable Zaragoza vMcCullough fight.

Never seen Wee-Ann versus Victor Rabanales, the elim fight for Yakushiji. It was an important fight but I only ever saw highlights in the documentary on McCullough, think it was called On the Street of Dreams or something similar. Any good?

Regarding Yakushiji, he gave McCulligh a decent fight but he was in an absolute war with the"Japanese Gatti" Joichiro Tatsuyoshi to win the title and some feel that he received a generous decision.

Just imagine McCullough v Tatsuyoshi.

[Autobarn]

I've misplaced my copy of the fight so haven't watched it yet. I remember thinking McCullough as the shorter man did an excellent job with the jab, using head movement and the up-jab to close the distance and let his hands go. And his workrate as ever was simply phenomenal, he just suffocated yakushiji, whose weakness was he didn't like working the full 3 minutes (I think he was big at the weight)

I've got it

McCullough was outstanding as long as he stayed at bantamweight.

[davie]

McCullough - Yakushiji

1. 10 - 9 - McCullough. Started at a furious pace, Yakushiji must have wondered what he'd let himself in for
2. 10 - 9 - McCullough. Yakushija didn't do much wrong, but when he throws 2, Wayne comes back with 4. Some punches a little out of range though
3. 10 - 9 - McCullough. Closer round, hard to tell how much is landing, but the volume of work from Wayne is just frightening.
4. 10 - 9 - McCullough. Upper body movement from McCullough making him hard to hit and still keeping up a good pace.
5. 10 - 9 - McCulough. Some heavy shots landed and still that consistent pressure and volume. surely can't do this for 12 rounds
**I think Yakushiji has Mr Miagi in his corner for this fight**
6. 10 - 9 - McCulough. Another close one with Yakushiji getting some good shots off, but just too much coming from Wayne.
7. 9 - 10 - Yakushiji. Managed to press Wayne back and get out of range of Wayne for the first time in the fight. Landed a few good shots.
8. 9 - 10 - Yakushiji. Using the longer jab to control the range better, A brief volley from Wayne in the mid-round but unable to sustain it for 3 minutes
9. 10 - 9 - McCulough. Greater accuracy, measuring the left jab better and timing the left hook counters. Still not the relentless pressure of the early rounds, but work rate up from rounds 7 and 8
10. 10 - 10. Yakushiji controlled spells with the jab and landed a couple nice rights but wayne dropped in a few good combinations to take a share of the round
11. 10 - 10 - Great round, toe to toe stuff. Both guys really digging deep to keep this up at this pace
12. 10 - 9 - McCulough. Just landed slightly more in a good final round

118-112 McCullough

McCullouch showed good use of footwork to cut the ring down and high volume punching to keep Yakushiji under immense pressure in the first half of the fight. And the upper body movement to keep himself out of trouble made for an effective combination.

More success for Yakushiji when he was able to control the distance better. Not sure if that was his doing or McCulough not being able to keep up quite the same relentless pace in the second half of the fight

Good pick

[Counter-puncher]

Yeah, just watching some of that again, really impressed with the variety in McCullough's work and especially with the jab, I like how he often jabs with his head off-centre to the right, an old school type move like Joe Louis, Ward does it a lot too, and how he varies the number and timing and strength of the jabs, also finishing combinations with it.

[Counter-puncher]

I've misplaced my copy of the fight so haven't watched it yet. I remember thinking McCullough as the shorter man did an excellent job with the jab, using head movement and the up-jab to close the distance and let his hands go. And his workrate as ever was simply phenomenal, he just suffocated yakushiji, whose weakness was he didn't like working the full 3 minutes (I think he was big at the weight)

I've got it.

What, my copy?

[davie]

Yeah, just watching some of that again, really impressed with the variety in McCullough's work and especially with the jab, I like how he often jabs with his head off-centre to the right, an old school type move like Joe Louis, Ward does it a lot too, and how he varies the number and timing and strength of the jabs, also finishing combinations with it.

I was going to comment on the exact same thing, I'd watched a video recently about Archie Moores old school defensive stance and another analysing Charlie Burley, I think it was.
Bizarre how it is used less and less, this style, it seems so effective.
Wayne used it well, just bobbing up and down with his head just over his right hand to keep out of range of Yakushijis long left jab.

I think I paid particular attention to the head movement after Horse had pointed out Duke McKenzie's particularly ineffectual style of just dipping to waist height, in the previous fight and staying there and getting socked with hooks and uppercuts.
Another nice trick Wayne used early on was rotation down past the waist level, dipping right below a hook and coming back up still rotating away from another. He'd land a hook to the body on the way past then a shot upstairs on the way back up. He did it a few times in the earlier rounds.

I liked Waynes jab as well but thought he was at his best when he was letting both his hands go in combination, I also thought his opponent made good use of the long left in the latter part of the fight.

[Autobarn]

I've misplaced my copy of the fight so haven't watched it yet. I remember thinking McCullough as the shorter man did an excellent job with the jab, using head movement and the up-jab to close the distance and let his hands go. And his workrate as ever was simply phenomenal, he just suffocated yakushiji, whose weakness was he didn't like working the full 3 minutes (I think he was big at the weight)

I've got it.

What, my copy?

Yeah don't you remember?

I felt Yakushiji came on pretty strong late, making it close-ish.

He'd been in some really hard fights already, probably did struggle to make the weight, almost all of his title fights were life and death and I think he was on borrowed time.

[Counter-puncher]

I've got it.

What, my copy?

Yeah don't you remember?

I felt Yakushiji came on pretty strong late, making it close-ish.

He'd been in some really hard fights already, probably did struggle to make the weight, almost all of his title fights were life and death and I think he was on borrowed time.

ha, no i didn't. has it got Chavez vs one of his time-marking victims on it too? anyway post it back to us man I fancy watching that now!

[Autobarn]

Cool.

It has a glitch in round 12, starts freezing and skipping.

Yes, it's with Chavez v Hernandez and Whitaker v Ramirez 2.