The IBF titleholder, who turns 34 next month, held a press conference reaffirming the desire for further challenges by seeking out unification bouts and snaring championship contests in a third weight class.

Chief among them is newly-minted IBF junior bantamweight champion Andrew Moloney (29-4, 18 KOs), who edged past Willibaldo Garcia with a split decision on his undercard. While focusing on preparation for his own title defense and not able to fully watch the Australian, the pair posed for pictures in his dressing room after the event.

"If Moloney wants to fight, I'm ready anytime. My impression is that he fought Junto Nakatani over 12 rounds, is a technically skilled boxer ... if I were to fight in the super-flyweight [115 pound] division, I would need to improve my overall strength and get in shape," he was quoted as saying by Yahoo Japan.

Yabuki, The Ring's No. 2-rated flyweight for its vacant title, has flickered between fly and junior flyweight since turning professional in 2016.

A three-time, two-division world champion, he last boxed at 108 pounds in October 2024 with a ninth-round stoppage of Sivenathi Nontshinga. He was back five months later at fly, scoring a last-round finish of Angel Ayala for the IBF crown he has twice defended.

Logjam elsewhere at the top end of his weight class will no doubt have prompted him to look elsewhere.

WBC/WBA champion Ricardo Sandoval (27-2, 18 KOs) was slated to face mandatory challenger Galal Yafai in Sheffield last weekend, before the latter sustained a training injury.

A proposed home defense against Yoali Mosqueda (15-0, 12 KOs) on next weekend's Oscar Collazo-Joey Canoy card also fell through and the 27-year-old is playing a waiting game.

The same can be said for WBO titleholder Anthony Olascuaga (12-1, 9 KOs), who had his July 11 date against Andy Dominguez canceled this week due to 'growing logistical concerns' surrounding ambitious attendance hopes from San Francisco's Civic Center.

The promotion claim it will be rescheduled for a different date and venue, though timing is of the essence for Yabuki while the 20-somethings figure out their respective schedules. In an ideal world, he'll return in October.

When asked to assess his performance, the IBF beltholder rated himself a 1-out-of-10 and was disappointed about struggling to solve Calixto's high-pressure, inside-fighting style which stifled him in stages despite early success.

"I got too tense because I had a good start. My desire to keep moving forward backfired, I can't say anything big with this performance, I'm discouraged by it but that means I can still grow."

"I don't care who it is, as long as I can fight a champion, whether in the same weight class or a higher one."

He pinpointed a need to improve his overall muscle strength and get in better shape, noting he feels 'heavy' at 56kg (123 pounds), where Moloney is said to have rehydrated to after Friday's weigh-in.