March 1, 2004
NAGOYA, JAPAN-A press conference was held at the Tokai TV in Nagoya, Japan, on Monday to announce the WBA 115-pound title bout between defending champ Alexander Munoz (25-0, 24 KOs) and Japanese challenger Hideyasu Ishihara (15-2-1, 11 KOs) in Gifu on May 16. The unbeaten Venezuelan KO artist captured the WBA throne by dismantling Celes Kobayashi in 2002 and kept it three times by defeating Eiji Kojima (KO2), Hidenobu Honda (W12) and again Kojima (TKO10), all in Japan to his credit. Ishihara is a tall and lanky southpaw hard-puncher who once seized the OPBF regional belt and defended it twice. It will be such a fight as will never go the distance whichever may win.
(3-1-04)