Newly crowned World Boxing Council light flyweight champion Masamichi Yabuki of Midori Boxing Gym expressed his confidence in the March 19 title defense against former champion Kenshiro Teraji of BMB Boxing Gym in his press conference and public workout online on March 12.

The 29-year-old Yabuki will defend his title against Yabuki, 30, as the WBC issued an order for their rematch after monitoring the video on their fight on Sept. 22 last year in Kyoto, western Japan, that Teraji, popularly known as Kenshiro, bled profusely from the above his right eyelid in the ninth round due apparently to Yabuki’s head butt. Kenshiro was stopped in the 10th round and failed in his ninth defense of the title he won in May 2017.

At the press conference, Yabuki appeared very calm and confident as he said, ‘’While the upcoming fight will be my 17th bout, I have more confidence in this match than any other fight I have had so far. Because I have done better-than-expected sparring sessions this time around.’’

According to Yabuki, he has so far engaged himself in 12-round sparring sessions three to four times (to prepare for the fight with Teraji).

About his impression of Teraji, Yabuki said, ‘’He has good jabs and has a good sense of distance. He also has a lot of stamina and toughness.’’

But Yabuki, a left-handed fighter, said, ‘’Rather than studying my opponent in general, I will search for things my opponent (Teraji) does not like to be done.’’ Yabuki said that strategy paid off in their first encounter, and he will try to do it again.

Their fight in last September was so intensified and was selected as the best bout of 2021 by boxing writers and other experts.

While Yabuki said his daily life has not changed ever since he became the champion, he has been concentrating on boxing alone. Before the last year’s bout, Yabuki had had to work in the construction industry on the side.

Concretely, Yabuki said he has been able to do more roadwork in the morning. When there was no sparring at the gym, he was able to run up a steep hill nearby as part of his interval training to enhance his stamina. ‘’Both the quality and quantity of my training have increased accordingly,’’ Yabuki added.
‘’I know what I have to do since I fought him once,’’ said Yabuki determinedly.

The scheduled 12-round fight will be held at Kyoto City Gymnasium, the same place in the previous fight.

Yabuki has a record of 13 wins, including 12 KOs, against three defeats. For his part, Teraji has an 18-1 win-loss tally with 10 KOs,

The fight will be shown via AbemaTV, a Japanese live TV streaming website.