Kyoji Hiroguchi is lacking a few things to fight the elite.
He may be 14 and 1 and on a nine fight win streak, but he hasn’t faced anyone even close to that elite level status. He has dynamite in his hands and some incredible speed as well, but is lacking in his technique. Too many times did he have wild or looping punches that Ian McCall, John Dodson, Joseph Benivedez or any other top flyweight could and would capitalize on. Everyone of the fighters listed, and the champ, have speed and power but their boxing is also crisp and polished. Precision, that is what Horiguchi is lacking, the precision to complement that speed and power. He does have some good foot work, but his ground game has not been tested by a top notch wrestler or ju jitsu artist. His chin has not been truly tested either. There are too many questions to grant him a big name opponent. He does deserve someone better than Louis Gadinout though, with his alternating wins and loses. The winner of Tim Elliot and Zach Makovsky would be a good gauge to see how big of step up in competition Kyoji needs. A emphatic win and he needs a top five. Anything less than that and it proves he needs time to grow in such a talent rich division.
