The team of Miyo Yoshida, a three-time, two-division world champion, is lobbying the IBF to match their fighter with bantamweight champion Cherneka Johnson.
Johnson is 19-2 (8 KOs), while Yoshida is 18-5 and in pursuit of her eighth world title fight.
“I am ready to challenge Johnson,” Yoshida said. “She is a respected champion, but I will emerge as the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world when our fight is finished.”
Yoshida is 37 and claimed the WBO junior bantamweight titles in 2019 and 2021.
Then, in 2024 as a late replacement, she won a 10-round decision over Ebanie Bridges to win the IBF title at bantam before losing the belt to Shurretta Metcalf, although Yoshida’s manager Keith Sullivan argued the IBF that the scores and outcome failed to reflect Yoshida’s efforts.
In January, the IBF ruled that Yoshida would be their No. 1 contender and she would face Metcalf by October.
But Metcalf requested a voluntary and was granted one and was permitted to face Johnson, who held the WBA title, and she stopped Metcalf in the ninth round to also claim the vacant WBC and WBO titles.
Yoshida last fought in February, keeping busy against Beata Dudek and winning a 10-rounder.
“Johnson versus Yoshida is the best fight in the bantamweight division,” Sullivan said. “Champion against the most dangerous contender. This is the fight fans deserve to see. Miyo Yoshida never lost her standing in this division; she lost her title on paper. She’s the IBF mandatory challenger for a reason, and a fight with Johnson is the rightful next chapter.”
