ISHIDA IN HUGE UPSET OVER KIRKLAND; MALIGNAGGI BEATS COTTO

MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, LAS VEGAS -- Nobuhiro Ishida (pictured) of Osaka Japan with a record of 23-6-2, 7KO, knocked out comebacking and ersthwile undefeatred James Kirkland (27-1-0, 24) of the first round in a huge upset. Ishida knocked down Kirkland three times before Referee Joe Cortez stopped the contest at 1:52 of the very first round.

Meanwhile, Paulie Malignaggi (28-4-0-6KO) of New York won via unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico (32-3-1 24KO) via scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 97-93.

Photo by Dr Ed de la Vega.