September 14, 2014
OSAKA, JAPAN
If you now weigh 160 pounds, how long will you take to gain 40 pounds to become a 200-pounder? Japan’s ex-WBA super-welter interim champ Nobuhiro Ishida suffered a third-round annihilation at the hand of Gennady Golovkin with the WBA middleweight belt on the line in Monaco in March of the previous year, and he, taking a year, moved up to the heavyweight category and is now fighting at 200 pounds. Ishida (26-10-2, 10 KOs), 201.5, struggled to win a unanimous verdict (78-73, 78-74 twice) over Frenchman David Radeff (5-7-2, 2 KOs), 201, over eight hard-fought rounds on Sunday in Osaka, Japan.
It was his first appearance since he failed to win over national heavyweight ruler Kyotaro Fujimoto by a hairline decision loss (77-76, 77-75 twice) without the belt at stake in Tokyo this April. Ishida, standing at 6”1.5”, wasn’t in good shape as he looked a little too heavy, and took a tough time with the Frenchman, who lately acquired the UBO intercontinental cruiserweight belt last December.
Ishida utilized his advantageous height and reach to outpunch the Frenchman, who, however, connected with roundhouse combinations that occasionally caught the ex-champ. But Ishida attempted to outjab the shorter Frenchmana with thick mustache from the third round on. Radeff occasionally caught him with looping rights, but couldn’t follow it up because of Ishida’s determined retaliations. It’s a competitive fight as both displayed their best.
Promoter: Green Tsuda Promotions.
(9-14-2014)