Former world minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama of Neyagawa Ishida Boxing Club and his trainer left Osaka International Airport for the United States on May 3 to challenge World Boxing Organization light flyweight champion Elwin Soto of Mexico for the latter’s title on May 8 (May 9 Japan time) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 37-year-old Takayama, ranked 11th in the division by the WBO, issued a statement through his affiliated office saying, ‘’Though my preparation period was short. I did everything I could do. I am determined to show everything in my arsenal in the fight so that I can grab the championship belt.’’
His mentor-cum-trainer Hiroaki Nakade also said, ‘’While we only had three weeks of the preparation period for the fight, we did everything we could to beat the champion.’’

Takayama, who had held world minimumweight titles of the sport’s all four major governing bodies at different times, returned to the professional world from amateur boxing after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics by earning a decision over then world-ranked light flyweight Reiya Konishi of SUN-RISE Boxing Gym last December. Takayama has a record of 32 wins, including 12 knockouts, against eight losses and one no contest.

The 24-year-old Soto, making his third defense of the title he won from Angel Acosta of Puerto Rico in June 2019, has an 18-1 win-loss tally with 12 KOs.

The Soto-Takayama bout will serve as the chief supporting card for the highly touted world super middleweight title unification bout between World Boxing Association ‘’super’’ and World Boxing Council champion in the division Saul ‘’Canelo’’ Alvarez of Mexico and WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders of Britain, which is expected to attract a considerable attention in the world.