Yajirobe vs 22nd Tenshinhan

[SSJ2]

Who wins?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Regardless of which of the two is stronger, Tenshinhan's greater array of techniques such as the Taiyoken and Shiyouken are enough to definitely give him the win.

 

[Pakl]

Goku vs Tambourine is not much stronger than he was vs Tenshinhan and Yajirobe considered him a monster. I don't think Goku went all out vs Yajirobe.

Ij would say Tensinhan wins even without his techniques with high difficulties at most

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Goku vs Tambourine is not much stronger than he was vs Tenshinhan and Yajirobe considered him a monster. I don't think Goku went all out vs Yajirobe.

He had no reason to hold back when believing Yajirobe was an ally of Tambourine and even noted that he'd never met anyone so durable before. Yajirobe's comments have to do with the ferocity Goku presented, not just his raw power.

 

[GSM123]

Believing Yajirobe to be a bad guy doesn’t mean Goku will throw all he’s got right off the bat. He didn’t do that against Sgt Metallic, Piccolo, Freeza… Goku also never comments on Yajirobe’s strength, just his durability.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Context is important with those comparisons. Goku had no emotional investment in defeating Metallic and conserving stamina was important in each of those battles, the latter two in which he was far more mature than his teen self. Against Yajirobe, Goku had just eaten a full meal to make stamina conservation irrelevant and was very emotionally invested in killing Tambourine. The fact that Yajirobe was also more durable than anyone else he encountered would also support him being close to Tenshinhan's level and Goku using his full power, unless you believe Goku had gained such a Zenkai his more casual self was on par with his 22nd TB battle level.

 

[GSM123]

He had minimal investment in Yajirobe either. Holding back or not it’s evident he didn’t treat Yajirobe the same way as Tambourine by how scared Yajirobe got later. Conserving stamina was also a factor here since fatigue was what caused Goku to lose to Tambourine initially.

He didn’t go all out right off the bat on Young Daimao, which was mere hours or days at best before the start of the saga.

 

[Pakl]

Goku vs Tambourine is not much stronger than he was vs Tenshinhan and Yajirobe considered him a monster. I don't think Goku went all out vs Yajirobe.

He had no reason to hold back when believing Yajirobe was an ally of Tambourine and even noted that he'd never met anyone so durable before. Yajirobe's comments have to do with the ferocity Goku presented, not just his raw power.

But Goku was obviously stronger than Yajirobe based on the way the story implies him as being able to fight Piccolo

 

[Captain Cadaver]

He was only able to fight a casual Daimao, with Yajirobe viewing Goku in awe due to the stories he'd heard about Piccolo Daimao rather than the feats being displayed. It still stands that Goku viewed Yajirobe as the most durable person he'd ever met, making him more durable than someone like Tenshinhan. Even if we were to consider Yajirobe the weaker of the two, the fact remains their physical capabilities can't be too far apart.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Also, I came across this entry in DBZ Kakarot:

"He was roughly equal in power to Goku when they first met and was able to take down Demon King Piccolo's henchmen Cymbal in one strike." - Secrets of Yajirobe 1

Granted, video games are a dubious source for accuracy, but this is still an official source validating something that can be easily inferred from the original manga.