While Eddie Hearn talks up Kal Yafai’s chances of becoming the next big star stateside, the man himself will not be letting the hype go to his head.
For the second time this year, Yafai will face a Japanese opponent venturing outside his homeland for the first time.
In May Yafai laboured to a points win against Suguru Muranaka and will know that a more impressive performance is needed against his compatriot Sho Ishida this time round.
After exploding onto the scene with a series of impressive knockdowns the Birmingham super-flyweight has found the going tough in his last couple of outings.
There is no doubt that the WBA belt holder has all the tools to be one of the best. His unanimous points win over Panamanian Luis Concepción to win the title in December last year was his first real test but also put down the marker for all his future bouts.
It was no surprise to see Yafai tire in later rounds against Murunaka given his tendency to finish his opponents early (before fighting Concepción, he had never gone the distance in 20 contests; in fact never past round four) but the relentless pace of the classy Tokyo native undoubtedly caused him problems.
Yafai will be expecting a similar fight against Ishida, who is also unbeaten (24-0 with 13KOs), and should have based his training camp on that premise.
He needs to be prepared for the pace of a 12 rounder and become more relentless if he wants to chase an early stoppage.
He cannot afford another poor showing if he is to get his wish of facing big names in the division stateside such as Román ‘Chocolatito’ González or Juan Francisco Estrada.
This is a chance to lay down a real marker in the division on a night where the whole world of boxing is watching. Yafai is finally at the elite end of his sport but needs to believe he can dominate and that has to start on Saturday.
