Mike Barnes Would Have Beat Chozen (Before Cobra Kai)

 Before Cobra Kai, Mike Barnes was Daniel's strongest opponent in the franchise Here's why Karate Kid Part III's Barnes would have defeated Chozen.

Mike Barnes would have defeated Chozen if they had fought before Cobra Kai. In The Karate Kid sequel series, Yuji Okumoto’s Chozen Toguchi is hailed as the show’s best fighter. Time and time again, Cobra Kai has proven just how skilled the Karate Kid Part II villain really is.

At this point in the series, Daniel has encountered all three of his primary opponents in The Karate Kid trilogy. Johnny Lawrence, Chozen, and Mike Barnes all remain in fighting shape and continue to be formidable fighters. As for which one is the best, the character with the strongest argument for that tile is, of course, Chozen. The first taste of Chozen’s potential came in Cobra Kai season 3 when he won a sparring match with Daniel. When looking at how Daniel stacks up against Johnny and Kreese, Chozen’s victory made it likely that he was better than both of them as well. Mike Barnes seemingly served as a tough challenge for Chozen in season 5, but their fight didn’t last long enough for a winner to be determined.

Barnes was above Daniel, Johnny, Daniel, Chozen in the 1980s, but obviously, much has changed since those days. Chozen eclipsed most of these characters by not lapsing in his training, but as for whether or not that includes Barnes, that remains to be seen. Chozen might be better now, but any divide that exists between them isn’t significant by any means. How Mike Barnes kept up with Chozen during their brief Cobra Kai season 5 fight makes it abundantly clear that he’s still a force to be reckoned with. His status as a former teenage martial arts prodigy and how he compared to The Karate Kid’s other villains easily makes sense of his ability to keep up with the show’s senseis.