On the 28th, a press conference was held at a hotel in Yokohama to announce the “NTT Docomo Presents LeminoBOXING Double World Title Match.” The event will take place on Wednesday, September 2, at Yokohama BUNTAI and will be streamed live on Lemino.
石井を挟んで大橋会長㊨と八重樫トレーナー Naoki Fukuda
The semifinal is a bout for the WBA World Minimumweight Title. Takeshi Ishii (Ohashi) will face Wilfredo Mendes (Puerto Rico) for the title vacated by Ryusei Matsumoto (Teiken).
Like his senior, Yuki Takei, Ishii comes from a kickboxing background. He began his professional boxing career in the fourth round, went on to win the Rookie of the Year title, and then captured the OPBF title (which he defended twice). To date, his record stands at 11 wins (8 KOs) and 1 loss.
His opponent, Mendes, is a southpaw and former WBO champion. In Japan, he has lost to southpaws Masataka Taniguchi and Yudai Shigeoka. This time, he is aiming to win the title for the second time. His record is 20 wins (6 KOs), 3 losses, and 2 draws.
Ishii declared, “I’ve been training for this day. Mendes is a boxer who excels at scoring on points, but I will definitely become champion.” Trainer Akira Yaegashi stated, “Ishii needs to move forward like a challenger, maintain his own range, and pick up points. It will be a tough fight, but I believe in Ishii’s physical strength and mental toughness.” Building on his physical strength—which he boasts is “the best in this weight class” (Ishii)—he has been training with the goal of improving his technical skills.
Chairman Ohashi remarked, “Ishii is a hard worker with a powerful punch. I’ve been wanting to give him this opportunity for a long time.”
