I was there for this one! I was a biker and Blyther was my man~ but I loved to watch skating too. ALOT went down at this contest. Hoffman won amateur and turned pro and won that to. Skating was going off. It was awesome.. 1989 if I recall.
I love both of them. Hosoi seemed like more of a natural and Hawk is like the less athletic guy who practices harder to land the most technical tricks. Hosoi surfs the pipe Hawk skates it.
Exactly Christian's style is def influenced by the people he grew up alongside like the greats of the 70s like Tony Alva, Shogo Kubo, etc very surf inspired and stylish yk
I skated full-time from 1985 to 2002 and I can tell you today nobody is going to win off of style. Hawk was 10 times the skater that Christian was. There’s eight year olds out there today that's can do every single thing that Christian did at his peak. Can’t say that about Tony hawk
@@montanaplease not true at all there’s 8 yr olds than can do both of there tricks today I agree tony won this contest forsure but give the legends their props nowadays you can look on the internet and learn tricks compared to back in their day they paved the way for hell of tricks not to mention they were doing this on 10” boards compared to a popsicle which is way easier I honestly look up to both but you can’t take away from hosoi whatsoever
When it comes to Hosoi vs Hawk, it's always down to technical vs style. As much as I loved Tony's technical run (he definitely bagged that 720 in the end), there's something sublime and transcendent about Christian's sense of style-he makes the big air look so effortless and grand. I'm fine at either one winning, but my subjective vote always favor Hosoi. I remember owning this video, I think Hosoi wins. How come you didn't upload the rest of the video?
fronside air, backside air, frontside air backside air, it is cool and stylish but you can't win pipe ou vert contest doing "no tricks" but just airs : even the biggest airs ever !
@@garciaguilom bs air christ air lien crossbone mute air indy air fs air judo air all head height. None of that is basic nor easy when you're boosting that high. That's why there were such hard battles between these two. Both amazing in their own rights.
The Birdman had that lankey long legs style back in the day but he constantly delivered ramp tricks and Christian has that Hawaiian surf anything style what a competition between 2 completely different styles. Christian also brought the speed and style to street competition which off the ramp puts Christian on top during this time skating street.
@@cloud84strife Tony got up there, but when it came to big airs, Hosoi had the advantage. As a skater that skated during that era, I was definitely more of a fan of Hosoi and was in to big airs as well.
I remember watching and recording this on vhs in the late 80s. Remember being bummed when Hawk lost the event. But Hosoi was also entertaining to watch back then
Hosoi landed a Christ Air and a McTwist in the same run and both with big air and grace. Along with all the other big airs he did that’s hard to beat. Even for Tony Hawk.
I just think here it comes down to how this event was scored. Tony may have looked awkward getting to the incline. But it's a. What trick you did b. How hard was it? and c. How successful was it from a technical standpoint? His moves were just more difficult overall, he had two twisting tricks to Hosoi's one, one of which was a 720, and he landed them both perfectly, along with everything else he did. It's like freestyle ski jumping. A guy could be all arms and legs going down to the ramp and look goofy. But if he hits the ramp, does most insane shit of the competition and lands it perfectly, he's winning over someone that is silky smooth, looks like an eagle and flowy moving through the attempt, but has a lower difficulty. Because the event doesn't care how graceful you look overall. Only the tricks you perform and whether it's a successful attempt from a technical standpoint.
agree with the general comments being made...Christian is throwing huge airs in each run and makes it look easy. Tony threw in a few more tricks but didnt get nearly the same height in his airs and overall just didnt look as confident. my preference was for Hosoi's style but I get why people may vote tony in this comp....had the same problem in surfing at the time, "soul surfers" that rode the wave effortlessly and carved vs a more technical surfers that just didnt look at home on a wave.
Love both these guys. But it's undeniable that Tony was technically better. He thoroughly dominated skateboarding contests in the 80's and 90's , not because he was popular, but because he was so far ahead of everyone else. This isn't a rip on Hosoi. Hosoi is one of the nicest guys around and he made a massive contribution to skateboarding but Tony is the Michael Jordan of skateboarding. and most pro skateboarders know and freely admit this.
Hawk needed a rival and they were polar opposites. Hosoi did some insane shit later in his career, like boned out tail grabs to tail like head high. Something about the way he skates... hosoi always landed right below the coping, foot placement was always perfect, made everything look silky smooth, did 540s so high and properly upside down rodeo style. Yeah, he wasn't as technical as Tony Hawk but he skated how he wanted to skate and did it very uniquely. Like Chris Miller... doesn't have a huge bag of tricks but i can watch with God given style all day over a technician like early Hawk (current Hawk is definitely more fun to watch), Andy McDonald, etc. Some guys with combined style and tech are Moto and Wilkins.
jessejones1102 Spot on. Hosoi blasted the big stylin airs that could normally win but Tony just outworked him and outscored him. I think if Hosoi kept a work ethic like Tony and wasn't into the party life history would have told a different story. Then again I'm pretty sure Hosoi hooked up with Madonna while Tony was collecting electronics so there's always that. Ah moderation.
jessejones1102 hahahaha!!! Tony Plz Christian was & is #1 he fukn Flowed when he skated like magic Tony tried 2 hard & had NO rhythm in his routines just 2 damn lanky hahaha & if Christian hadn't gone 2 prison he would have won it ALL!!! so thank Christian Tony 4 giving it all 2 U!👎
If you watch rising son Tony talks about his height being a problem and that christian could get that low power easy - Tony basically had to pump every vert to get his height.
It has said before.. Tony Hawk is the icon.. Hosoi... he's a legend!! This 2 runs, I've to say Tony's is better. Always been an Hawk fan. Still regret till today that I've throw out my sweater with Tony's signed on and Danny Way's on it as well from '90 Münster Monster Mastership. After the final we hang with Sean Sheffey.. he's really kind person, he came to me to shake my hand when he realized we're about to leave.
Style vs Substance. Hosoi vs Hawk. One was a stylist, the other a technician. Technicians usually win more titles. Hawk won the title with technique. He knew that was his game and, like all the great ones, he stuck to what he was good at and told the haters to piss off.
Hosoi definitely won this. Love both riders and was probably rooting for Tony when I saw this in the 80’s. This might be the best skate contest of all time.
tony made skateboarding popular but hosoi made it cool. tony will always be the pop culture king of skateboarding but hosoi, Gonz, penny are for those who know
Everyone likes to contrast these two as being style vs technique. But honestly, Tony Hawk is just better. He knows and mastered more tricks. Just because Hosoi, who is a great skater, looks cooler while skateboarding, doesn't mean that he is actually performing as well as the skinny and nerdy Tony Hawk. He's just sexier so he is judged more favorably.
Was always a fan of Hosoi over Hawk although I have huge respect for Tony's skill and natural talent. I feel bad for Hawk that he put up with a lot of bullshit from assholes he didn't deserve. So he wasn't stylish, he didn't deserve to be hated for it! Easy to see how that divided skateboarding though, modern competition is all about the flips and spins, style is meaningless to judges. In some ways they've taken the soul out of skateboarding which is why I'm not real interested in competitions. I'd rather watch older videos of guys with style and soul...Hosoi...Cab...Miller etc....
back then it was a new thing to have someone as Hosoi around the ramps with the style he had. But nowadays anyone can do what he did, and even better. Hawk it’s still the guy who created most of the tricks we know nowadays and the biggest champion of all time. So my respect will go to Hawk always
Tony admitted himself that Christian was on another level. Not many know the game was going to be Christians but due to no shows and well drugs it went to Tony.
Hosoi always was better if you ask me but with money from his parents and Hosoi spending time locked up Hawk got all the attention but I say Hosoi # 1 Sk8er of the 80s hands down!
Hawk clear winner. He’s Tony Hawk. Slugged it out with another Giant. And he won. Open your eyes. Tony always has been past present and future of skating. Stop trying to justify something that is not true. Mad props to Hosoi, very inspirational rider, but come on man!
when everyone wasn't holding a stupid device. so much better and people could use their memory and those 3 photos they took are classic not in the mud of thousands of digital pics on the cloud.
Damn!, first watch I was wondering why so many people argued the outcome. Second watch it made perfect sense to me…. One looked like he was drinking a fine wine, and enjoying a beach side breeze watching a sunset while on vacation…. The other looked like he was working his ass off trying to make the Nike shoe quota at a Chinese sweat shop in the middle of summer with no AC.…. I won’t argue that Hawk won… Obviously more productive as he was very much at work… Not on vacation. The worker bee won… but I envy the cozy guy on vacation far more.
I was there Hosoi won, but I ammin disagreement with many here about Hosoi, he is awesome for sure but he does a lot of boring filler airs whereas Hawk pulls out technical stuff on pretty much every wall. Just having power and “style” and high airs should never beat the successful application of difficult tricks and greater variety. I recall I was clearly disappointed by the final decision, and seeing their second to last runs here many many years later only reinforces what I thought then.
Hosoi run was much harder. His movements are scary. Look at his body language on the board its like he doesn't give a fuck if he falls but hardly does.
Hosoi was just cooler back in the day. Everyone wanted to be him. Tony was great, but he was no Christian. It's unfortunate Hosoi had so many demons back in the day.
