Felix Alvarado is set to defend his IBF light flyweight world title in Kobe, Japan later this year.
According to PhilBoxing.com, Alvarado will defend his title against Reiya Konishi on May 19 in what will be Alvarado's first title defense. The May 19 title fight will be broadcast live in Japan on Tokyo's WOWOW satellite TV station.
Alvarado won the title last year when he stopped Randy Petalcorin in the seventh round of their fight which took place in the Philippines and was streamed in the United States on ESPN+. At the time of the stoppage, Alvarado was ahead on two of the three scorecards while Petalcorin was leading on the third scorecard.
The title bout between Alvarado and Petalcorin was made after Hekkie Budler vacated the title after being unhappy with the winning bid amount in a purse bid between Budler and Alvarado. After unsuccessfully challenging for the WBA flyweight and light flyweight titles, Alvarado has won his last 16 fights with 15 of those wins coming from inside the distance.
Konishi is a 25-year-old fighter from Kobe who made his pro debut since 2013. Konishi unsuccessfully challenged for the WBA light flyweight title last March, losing a unanimous decision to Carlos Canizales. Since then, Konishi has won two straight against Orlie Silvestre and Richard Rosales, winning the WBO Asia Pacific title in the process. Konishi is currently ranked No. 3 in the IBF light flyweight rankings.
