Boxing

Yoshiki Takei Makes Quick Work Of Challenger, Retains WBO Bantamweight Title

The kickboxer-turned-boxer continues his stellar run of form, defending his WBO world title.
Johan Alyas Blanco|
Yoshiki Takei (left) and Yuttapong Tongdee (right) at weigh in.
Yoshiki Takei (left) and Yuttapong Tongdee (right) at weigh in. | IMAGO / AFLOSPORT

It was a very quick night for Yoshiki Takei.

The 28-year-old stopped Yuttapong Tongdee in the first round, on Wednesday, to retain his WBO bantamweight title. Takei (11-0, 9 KOs) makes his second defense of his belt and continues his ascension up the bantamweight division.

The fight was streamed live on DAZN, and was part of a doubleheader along with Masanori Rikiishi vs. Eduardo Nunez for the vacant IBF junior lightweight title.

The bout took place at the Yokohama Buntai in Yokohoma, Japan. Takei headlined the event in front of his hometown, and put on a quick show.

It was an unlucky two minutes for Tongdee (15-1, 9 KOs), with the Thai boxer first hitting the canvas after straight left at the beginning of the fight. Tongdee's fortune would not get any better, getting dropped a second time literally seconds after the first knockdown. Takei finished the job, unleashing a flurry of punches and knocking down the challenger for the third a final time.

From the jump, the discrepancy in skill was obvious, with Takei being the faster boxer and having the better footwork. The reaction time from Tondgee was slow, almost like he wasn't anticipating what was coming at him.

Takei made short work of the challenger and is now back to his finishing way. Before this fight, he went the distance with Daigo Higa and Jason Moloney respectively. Those bouts were back-and-forth and forced the champion to bring out his resilience and heart.

For Takei, this win sets him up with a potential unification bout at bantamweight. Potential fights against fellow undefeated Japanese bantamweight champions, Junto Nakatani and Ryosuke Nishida could be on the horizon.

Nakatani (30-0, 23 KOs) is currently preparing to face Nishida (10-0, 2 KOs) in a unification bout on June 8th at Ariake Colosseum in Japan.

And with Takei taking little-to-no damage in this fight, it's safe to say that he could next in line for the winner of that bout.

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Johan Alyas Blanco
JOHAN ALYAS BLANCO

Johan Alyas Blanco is a writer for KO On SI. Before joining in March 2025, he worked as a News Producer in Tallahassee and Orlando. He also works for several fight promotions in boxing and MMA, working on social media content. When he’s not writing, Alyas covers boxing on his own YouTube channel, The Split Decision. Blanco has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from UCF, with a minor in sports business management. Alyas has interviewed several big names in combat sports, including Jorge Masvidal, Edgar Berlanga and Brian Norman Jr. His goal is to bring boxing back to prominence.

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