Takayama in hometown defence

Boxing | International

Katsunari Takayama © Gallo Images

 

IBF minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama of Japan will defend his title against Virgilio Silvano in December.
Takayama will make the first defence of his belt when he takes on the Filipino in Osaka on December 3, his handlers said on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Japanese fighter won the title when he beat Mario Rodriguez on points in the Mexican city of Guasave in March.
The fight against Silvano will be on the same card as the super-flyweight unification match between Japan's IBF champion Daiki Kameda and WBA title-holder Liborio Solis of Venezuela.
It will be Takayama's first fight at home in four years and five months. He gave up his Japanese professional boxing licence in late 2009 to concentrate on fighting abroad. But he renewed the licence in July after winning the IBF crown.


"I have come home after building up my career abroad to toughen myself up," said Takayama, who has 25 wins, 10 of them by knockout, and six losses to his name.
"I fought amid a hail of booing each time. I am excited to fight at home in Osaka. It will be the first time in a long while that I may fight without hearing boos."
Silvano, 23, is sixth on the IBF’s rankings list. He has a record of 17 wins, 10 of them inside the distance, two losses and a draw.