December 29, 2003
OSAKA, JAPAN-WBA superfly champ Alexander Munoz, Venezuela, showed a public workout before many Japanese press people to impress them with his hard-punching performance in his sparring sessions at Osaka Teiken gym on Monday afternoon in Osaka, Japan. Munoz easily beat up his Japanese sparring partner and proved to be in very good condition. Monoz said, “Regardless of an outcome by knockout or by decision, I will bring back my belt to Venezuela.” Munoz will face Japanese southpaw speedster Eiji Kojima in the first world title bout on January 3.
WBC top ranked Russian Dimitri Kirilov, on the contrary, showed a very brief workout to stun the journalists by finishing his training for just two rounds; shadowboxing and hitting a bag. That’s all. Probably Kirilov had already made the weight, though he said he was still two pounds over the limit. The Russian described his style as scientific and speedful boxing, with which he is willing to dethrone the WBC 115-pound champ Masamori Tokuyama, who is reported to be in tip-top shape. The Tokuyama-Kirilov main event will start at about 8 pm on this coming Saturday.
(12-29-03)