Boxing’s dynamic duo will reunite for the holiday season.

Naoya Inoue and Yokishi Takei will both make title defenses on the show for the third time this year. A title fight doubleheader is set for Dec. 24 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue (28-0, 25 knockouts) will risk his RING/undisputed junior featherweight crown. Takei (11-0, 8 KOs) puts his WBO bantamweight title on the line for the second time.

The official challengers for both were not yet revealed as this goes to publication. However, a press conference is confirmed for Thursday, streaming live on Lemino to confirm those details.

It is widely believed that Inoue will defend his RING/undisputed 122-pound championship versus IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs). The matchup is currently slated for a purse bid hearing later this month, but a deal was always expected to be reached.

Inoue, The Ring’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, will attempt his fourth overall defense of at least two 122-pound titles. He will make the third defense of his RING championship, all in an active 2024 campaign. He has scored knockouts in all four wins at the weight.

The entire run has included Takei  along for the ride. The Dec. 24 fight date will mark the sixth straight time they will appear on the same show. The first came in Dec. 2022, when Inoue knocked out Paul Butler to fully unify the bantamweight division. The historic moment saw Inoue become Japan’s first ever undisputed champion in the three- or four-belt era.

Two fights later, Inoue joined an exclusive list of fighters to collect all four major belts and The Ring championship at two or more weights.

Takei’s first title win came on the undercard of Inoue’s May 4 sixth-round knockout of Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome.

The event saw Takei dethrone Australia’s Jason Moloney (27-3, 19 KOs) to lift the WBO bantamweight title. His reign is part of a golden era for Japan, whose fighters own all four major titles at bantamweight. It’s a fitting extension of Inoue’s undisputed championship reign at the weight before he abdicated the throne last January.

Inoue and Takei posted wins in separate bouts on Sept. 3 at this very arena.

The main event saw Inoue earn a seventh-round injury stoppage of TJ Doheny. In the chief support, Takei fended off determined countryman Daigo Higa to earn a twelve-round unanimous decision.

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