After title loss at 108lbs, Kyosuke Takami becomes WBA’s number one at 112

Kyosuke Takami no longer has his WBA world title at junior flyweight, but he’s now positioned to challenge for the organization’s belt at flyweight.

Takami, 10-1 (8 KOs), lost in mid-December in a unification bout with WBO 108lbs titleholder Rene Santiago. That ended a brief reign that had begun four and a half months earlier, when Takami bested Erick Rosa.

After the loss to Santiago, Takami was positioned as the WBA’s fourth-ranked junior flyweight. But he’s now been put into the No. 1 slot at flyweight in the sanctioning body’s latest ratings update, which was released on February 1.

The WBA’s previous No. 1 guy at 112lbs was Yankiel Rivera, 7-1-1 (3 KOs), who has now been pushed down to No. 4 following his unanimous decision loss to Jonathan Gonzalez on January 3 in an interim title bout.

The unified WBA and WBC flyweight titleholder is Ricardo Sandoval.

Takami is followed in the WBA’s flyweight rankings by Angelino Cordova at No. 2, then Seigo Yuri Akui, Rivera, Thananchai Charunphak, Hasanboy Dusmatov, Joel Agustin Contreras, Samuel Carmona, Sergio Mendoza Cordova, Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu, Hamza Uddin, Andy Dominguez, Yoali Mejia Mosqueda, Angel Alvarado Soto and Julio Cabrera.

Takami remains ranked No. 14 by the WBO at 108lbs.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.