Kal Yafai: First title defense set, wants to face Chocolatito later

Kal Yafai will return to the ring on May 13, making the first defense of his recently-won WBA “world” super flyweight title on Sky Sports, against an opponent to be named. The fight will be held in Birmingham, England.

Yafai (21-0, 14 KO) won the belt with an impressive decision win over Luis Concepcion on December 10, and the 27-year-old is hoping that by the end of the year, he joins the top ranks of a very strong division.

"The world champions at super flyweight are all top, top fighters. Roman Gonzalez is considered to be one of the pound-for-pound best and Naoya Inoue is a huge name in Japan and looks very impressive, so it's an exciting division to be in,” he said.

Yafai told Sky Sports that he definitely wants to face Gonzalez down the line.

"He is a brilliant fighter, a four-weight world champ and pound-for-pound No 1. It's brilliant for him to be in my weight class and it gets our division out there a bit more,” he said.

"I don't fear any fighter and although there are big risks in that fight, I believe with the right experience under me leading into that fight — I know I can beat Gonzalez."

It’s a bold but measured approach from Yafai, something somewhat refreshing. Yafai knows he’s not quite prepared enough for that fight, but is confident that once he is, he can beat anyone.