World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym welcomed his upcoming fight with top-ranked challenger Sho Ishida of Ioka Boxing Gym on May 6 at Tokyo Dome as one of the undercards of Takuma’s brother and undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘’The Monster’’ Inoue’s title defense against Luis Nery of Mexico.

  Speaking before a group of reporters at the gym in Yokohama, the 28-year-old Inoue said, ‘’I will hit him to my heart’s content. I don’t think the fight will be a boring one.’’

  Inoue retained his title for the first time by knocking out Jerwin Ancajas of the Philippines in the ninth round on Feb. 24, and it will be the first time for him to have a fight at such short intervals.

  Inoue had always wanted to have a fight in his brother’s undercard and cleared the fight with Ancajas without suffering any severe damage.

  He said, ‘’It is good for me to continue my training without going back to square one.’’ It will be the first time for him to have a fight at such short intervals. He resumed roadwork only a week after the fight with Ancajas. He also resumed training at the gym on March 4.

  About Ishida, Inoue said, ‘’He is a kind of boxer hard to deal with as he is tall and throws jabs a lot.’’ But he brushed it aside quickly and predicted he would not let Ishida do his kind of boxing and knock him out in the end.

  At present, there are many excellent bantamweight boxers, including World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani of M.T Boxing Gym, who captured the title also on Feb. 24.

In this connection, Inoue said, ‘’I am determined to show the kind of fight everybody thinks Takuma Inoue is the best bantamweight boxer.’’