World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym showed a public workout at the gym on Apr.11 in preparation for his title defense against top-ranked 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.

  While the 28-year-old Takuma will defend his title within a short span of time as he retained the title for the first time by knocking out Jerwin Ancajas of the Philippines on Feb. 24, Takuma welcomed having the fight at such short intervals as he said he was able to resume his training without going back to square one.

  Takuma’s father and trainer Shingo Inoue echoed this by saying, ‘’Unlike in his old fights, the fight with Ancajas showed the different aspect of Takuma.’’ Shingo thinks Takuma broke out of his shell and moved forward in his fight with Ancajas. ‘’He is now willing to come out strong on his own rather than waiting for his opponent’s move,’’ Shingo explained.

  Takuma himself said, ‘’I painfully realized that there is a great difference between a decision win and a KO win. I will aim at a KO victory as a professional boxer.’’

  While the 32-year-old Ishida, who is some 10 centimeters (about 0.328ft.) taller than Takuma, is known for his long and sharp jabs, Shingo brushed it aside by saying, ‘’Takuma has improved his jabs a lot recently. I think he can overwhelm Ishida with his jabs.’’

  Takuma said, ‘’I think I am superior to him even at close and intermediate distances. Anyway, I am determined to overwhelm him under any circumstance.’’

  It will be the second time for Takuma to fight as an undercard bout for Naoya following his decision loss as an interim champion to then World Boxing Council bantamweight kingpin Nordine Oubaali of France in the title unification bout in November 2019 at Saitama Super Arena.

  Takuma wants to ‘’pass a baton’’ to Naoya by winning the fight this time around as he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘’BUST THE LIMIT’’ during the training.