The 23-year-old Japanese fighter scored a highly impressive 10th round stoppage over Erick Rosa last July to claim the title but was surprisingly ousted when he met WBO ruler Rene Santiago (SD 12) in a unification five months later.

"It was very tough," Takami (10-1, 8 KOs) told The Ring. "I think the loss came from the gap between how I felt in the moment and how things actually looked. That discrepancy led to the defeat."

However, he's not hanging around and moping, instead, he will return up at flyweight against former IBF 112-pound titlist Angel Ayala at the Kokugikan, Tokyo, on Saturday.

"I wanted to prove once again that my boxing is strong and because I love boxing," he said of returning to action.

"Making junior flyweight had become very difficult for me and I aim to become a multi-division world champion."

Takami knows this is a crossroads fight for both but rather than take a lesser fight believes a win can help him move forwards and get another world title opportunity sooner rather than later.

"I believe [in] this fight [I] can definitely make a strong statement," said Takami, who is rated in the top 10 by all four sanctioning bodies.

"One of my goals is to become a world champion at flyweight within this year. I don't have a specific opponent in mind — I'll fight anyone who is considered strong."

Ayala, rated at No. 6 by The Ring at flyweight, entered the world scene when he scored a hugely impressive win over former titleholder Cristofer Rosales (UD 12) in April 2022.

The 25-year-old Mexican become the first man to stop 32-fight veteran Miguel Angel Herrera (TKO 1). He had to get off the canvas to edge past Felix Alvarado (SD 12) in October 2023 but came good impressively stopping Dave Apolinario (KO 6) to win the IBF title 10 months later before losing it to Masamichi Yabuki (TKO 12) last March.