On the 30th, fighters scheduled to appear on the undercard of the double world title event at Tokyo Dome on May 2 (Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani and Takuma Inoue vs. Kazuto Ioka) attended a press conference in Yokohama. This major event at the Dome, headlined by the Inoue-Nakatani superfight, will consist of a total of seven matches and will be broadcast via PPV on Lemino.
再起戦に臨む前王者の武居㊧と大橋会長
Former champion Takei, in his first fight since losing the WBO bantamweight title, described his current situation as being “on the edge” and spoke of his strong determination to make a comeback. Last September, he suffered his first professional loss after a 4th-round TKO defeat to Christian Medina (Mexico) in a title defense in Nagoya. Reflecting on the match, he said, “I showed the fans a pathetic performance,” and admitted that his frustration still lingers.
“I was overconfident in my own power during the Medina fight,” Takei revealed. Regarding his upcoming opponent Wang (9-1, 3 KOs), he evaluated him as “a good fighter who is physically large, seemingly powerful, and possesses technique,” adding, “I want to fight without over-relying on my power.” While his primary focus is simply securing the win, he also appealed to the crowd, saying, “Since it’s a major stage and I’m a former champion, I think I’ll go for the knockout once it starts.”
This comeback match marks a return to the super bantamweight division for the first time in a while. While Takei maintains he can still compete at bantamweight, he intends to determine his future weight class based on his performance against Wang.
