IBF minimumweight world champion Nkosinathi Joyi (21-0, 15KOs) has promised to score a knockout against Katsunari Takayama (24-4, 10KOs) of Japan on March 30th at East London, South Africa. They fought to a three round no contest last January, after an accident clash of heads.
Both fighters has been inactive since their meeting on January 29, 2011. Joyi wants to send a message to the rest of the champions at his weight by eliminating Takayama in style. The task won't be easy. Takayama has only been stopped once, back in 2003. And he even went the distance with hard-punching Roman Gonzalez in 2009.
"This fight will not go the distance," Joyi told Sowetan. "It feels good to defend the title here at home, which is where I won it on March 26 2010. The people here have been asking me when am I coming to fight at home again and I'm happy they will see me in action here on March 30. The theme of this tournament is 'Homecoming' because I will be fighting at home for the first time since becoming a world champion. My message to the people of East London and the rest of South Africa is that the title is going nowhere."
