Pipino Cuevas vs Shoji Tsujimoto - Carnage in Kanazawa

[@reycesarcarino4653]

Cuevas demonstrates how sheer KO and Chin can carry a fighter he defended the Crown 11 times defeating the original champion 3 times before being wiped out by the freak of nature that was Tommy Hearns

[@bulletproof890]

Thanks for the post Rich. I'd never seen this fight before.

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

Sure thing, bulletproof.

[@chriso1585]

Love these videos, Cuevas was all haymakers, brilliant

[@MikeBellec]

Tsujimoto was giving Cuevas all sorts of problems from that southpaw stance. Tall, lanky boxer with a good jab and a decent straight left. Cuevas caught up to him by going to the body then landing that great left hook to the head. Thanks for the upload Rich!

[@GilturnerknocksoutphonyFloyd]

The great trainer from the 20’s thru the early 60’s, he trained many world champions when boxing was an important sport, Whitey Bimstein said “Southpaws, they should be drowned at birth”.

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

Sure thing, Mike, it was a competitive fight.

[@markbelmares7138]

The sheer power in those punches, they hurt just watching them. There was no denying his warrior spirit. Forward, forward, forward , bam, bam, bam.

[@amc7185]

Pipino was a welterweight George Foreman. Sledgehammer hands.

[@alvilla9659]

Thanks rich for these videos. I never saw this one before.

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

My pleasure, Al.

[@whitehurstcomic]

Cuevas was easy to hit, threw very wide punches, wasn’t very fast and didn’t have an impressive win/loss record. He’s also my all time favorite fighter. Thanks for sharing this Rich. I had never seen the first of this fight.

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

Sure thing, whitehurstcomic.

[@paolomonzio972]

Great add, thanks Rich. I loved Pipino, a real warrior, exciting to watch even if he lost against top top fighters ❤

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

My pleasure, Paolo.

[@sumonedum]

Thanks rich! Early engagement gives youtube a stiffy, so heres a comment

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

I appreciate that, sum.

[@OldSchoolStrength]

This guy was a straight up killer ! Real Bone Crusher 👊🔥👊

[@Ren_Brands]

Great Video Rich, Kanazawa renowned for it's Gold seems like the fitting home for a World Champion but even though Tsujimoto was a good Boxer it just wasn't meant to be that day.

[@brianseneca3546]

Cuevas just throwing from left field! It looked like Pipino was switching from orthodox to southpaw which I dont recall ever seeing him do before

[@johnjuarez8005]

Cuevas was a banger, but he never got the training or ability to beat the elite fighters from the US.

[@himawalincat9350]

Thank you for this information on Tsujimoto. Was Tsujimoto in a facility due to mental illness? I am in Japan and this has not been made public, how did you get this information? I knew him well and have been wondering about his later years. If you have any further information on this story would you be able to share it? Thanks.

[@himawalincat9350]

Hello Rick, I've got to ask you again, where did you get the information about that Tsujimoto had his mental illness and had been in a psych ward for 10 years until his death in December of 2023 ? (it does sound like it the way you put it.) He opened his gym in west Japan in 1992, not in 1993. I was the one training all the fighters and running his gym for the first 14 years. I knew him since mid 1970's. I knew his brother Hidemori too. I also worked for his security company for a few years. Like I said, I knew him well. He worked as the chairman for the West Japan boxing union for 8 years and was very respected. As far as I know he suffered from diabetes and elderly dementia that was why he was in a facility on and off in his last years. He is survived by his four loving daughters and a wife. This is not right what you did to him and his family if you aren't sure about what you said. Tsujimoto and I were very close until 2006. We became worst enemies at that time and we never had a chance to speak to one another again since. Now he is gone, but there are his family still care about him. I just couldn't over look what you said of him. BTW, Tsujimoto had a lot of amateur fights and he had won 1968 Olympics trial and supposed to go to Mexico Olympics as a lightweight. They thought only flyweights and bantamweights had any chance of winning a medal and decided not let him go. When he finally got his chance to fight for a championship as pro, Pipino was only 18 and had already lost 7 fights. We were expecting Tsujimoto to win the title from Pipino. Shouji did have many fights out side of Japan as an amateur and as a pro too. Rich, I once tried to talk to you about you should be more carefully talking about people you have never even met before. It can hurt their families and friends.

[@whitehurstcomic]

@@himawalincat9350 Trying to piece together informative documentaries about lesser known subjects isn’t an exact science. I would think Tsujimoto would be proud to have this exposure, in spite of its imperfections. The man put up a much better fight than any other Cuevas defenses except Shields and Hearns. That’s no small feet. He was a warrior and I’m glad you had the opportunity to share a part of your life with him, and I’m glad I got to know him a little better. Imperfections and all.

[@RichtheFightHistorian]

I got the information from a website called boxingtalk which stated that he was hospitalized for a mental illness. There was another site that is translated from Japanese that states the same and that he was in a sanitorium or asylum. Sounds you have attached a negative connotation to the words "mental illness". If you state he suffered from elderly dementia then yes, he would have displayed behaviors such as depression, cognitive decline, etc which overlap with 'mental illness'. No disrespect toward Tsujimoto was meant at all and I think we have something lost in translation here.

[@mozfonky]

@@RichtheFightHistorian might be a cultural thing Rich, I wouldn't take it too seriously. My mentor was Japanese and I didn't understand a lot of things until years after we parted ways.

[@asilva781]

Heavy hitter pipino