June 21, 2011
TOKYO, JAPAN
Having been dethroned by Akifumi Shimoda in his initial defense, former WBA 122-pound champ Ryol-li Lee (AKA Retsuri Lee) will make a comeback against ex-national super-bantam ruler Rikiya Fukuhara (24-5-1, 18 KOs) in Tokyo, Japan, on August 6. Lee (17-2-1, 8 KOs), a legitimate featherweight as he had held the national belt at this weight, moved down to the 122-pound category and surprisingly captured the WBA throne by an upset verdict (115-113, 115-114 and 118-110) over Pongsaklek Kratingdaeng-Gym last October. After his forfeiture of the belt to Shimoda last January, Lee, suffered a pitiful passing of his manager/promoter Kazunori Miyakawa this May. Fukuhara is a slick-punching boxer-puncher who is never an easy trial horse for Lee, a lanky counterpuncher, who is gunning for a shot at a world feather belt in the future. On the same bill, once-beaten bantam prospect Ryosuke Iwasa (8-1, 6 KOs), ex-national high school champ, will also participate in a comebacking bout against Indonesian titlist Rasmanudin after his failure to win the national belt from world-rated Shinsuke Yamanaka in March.
(6-21-11)