By Joe Koizumi

In the midst of winter an avalanche has assaulted Japan, where our customary year-end world title shows have been postponed again and again. WBO bantamweight champ Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8 KOs), former K-1 world titlist before his entry into the international style boxing, suffered a right shoulder injury so that his defense against unbeaten WBO#10 Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9 KOs), Thailand, will be postponed until April. It was announced by Ohashi Promotions today (Wednesday).

Originally this title competition had been slated in the same show of the world 122-pound unified titlist Naoya Inoue versus Sam Goodman on Christmas Eve, but Goodman’s eye cut during a sparring session inevitably put it off until January 24.

We at first thought the scheduled semi-windup of the Takei versus Yuttapong card would be also moved to the same January 24, but Ohashi Promotions has surprisingly disclosed that Takei’s defense will be postponed separately from the Inoue defense until another fight date depending on the WBO bantam champ’s recovery.