Yoshiki Takei

Bio

Right then, Yoshiki Takei is the Japanese punisher who came up through kickboxing and brought all of that lethal intent into a boxing ring. Eleven and oh, ten of them inside the distance — that's a finisher's record, not a points fighter's. He picked up the WBO bantamweight world title after a career-best performance against Jason Moloney and looked, for a stretch, like the next Japanese name to follow the Inoues into household-name territory.

Then came the move up to super bantamweight and a Tokyo Dome assignment against DeKang Wang on the Inoue vs Nakatani undercard. Brilliant on his night, Takei has the speed of hand and the snap on his right cross that should have walked him to a comfortable eight-round verdict. Instead it was a wonky majority decision and a pile of questions about where his head is at after a year out of the bantamweight title scene.

Make no mistake — Takei at his best is a top-fifteen super bantamweight and a serious problem for anyone outside the elite. But he's at a crossroads now. The southpaw angles, the body work and the kickboxer's guard are all there. He just needs a clean, controlled performance to remind the division why it once feared him.