Photo: 俊仁 (Toshihito) 小林 (Kobayashi) / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Thirteen consecutive title defences. That number is basically the whole man. Yoko Gushiken, born on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa in 1955, held the WBA light-flyweight belt from 1976 to 1981, and each of those nights was a coin flip on his entire career. Doing that once takes nerve. Doing it thirteen times takes a stubbornness I can barely picture, and he did it at 162 centimetres in one of the smallest weight classes there is. What I admire just as much is the second act. After retiring in 1981 he became a television personality, and rather than trade on the menace of a former champion he let himself be the warm, funny one. Fighters often calcify into legends. He turned into someone people are simply glad to see, and the 2015 Hall of Fame induction never changed that.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yōkō Gushiken
- Name (Japanese)
- 具志堅用高
- Born
- June 26, 1955 (age 71)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Goat
- Origin
- Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
- Height
- 162 cm
- Occupation
- boxer / tarento
2. Background
- High school
- Konan High School
Awards & achievements
- 2015 International Boxing Hall of Fame
- WBA World Light Flyweight Champion
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Yōkō Gushiken born?
Born June 26, 1955 (age 71).
Where is Yōkō Gushiken from?
Yōkō Gushiken is from Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
What does Yōkō Gushiken do?
Yōkō Gushiken works as boxer, tarento.
How tall is Yōkō Gushiken?
Yōkō Gushiken is 162 cm.
Boxer — see all → · Tarento — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-07-27
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.