Naoya Inoue-Yoan Boyeaux set for Dec. 30

Junior bantamweight titleholder Naoya Inoue (14-0, 12 KOs) has been officially scheduled for an end-of-the-year title defense against Yoan Boyeaux (41-4, 26 KOs) in Yokohama, Japan as reported by ESPN.

The fight is scheduled for December 30th and should Inoue comes through the fight in the clear, with no injuries or setbacks, he'll look to return to the United States for HBO's planned "Superfly II" card, targeted for February 24.

"Within two months after this title bout, I wish to appear in the U.S. ring again, but will concentrate on this defense at first," Inoue said Thursday.

This schedule would mark a rather quick turnaround for Inoue, so he probably can't afford a knock-down, drag-out fight. Luckily his opponent, Boyeaux, hasn't fought anyone near the talent of Inoue, but that doesn't mean he's coming in to roll over.

Inoue, 24, has been steadily building his brand in his native Japan as a tremendous prospect, one who is already on many pound-for-pound lists, before finally coming Stateside this past September where he throttled Antonio Nieves on HBO's Superfly I undercard.

The top of the planned Superfly II card is being targeted to have Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1, 39 KOs) making his mandatory title defense against Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2, 25 KOs) as its main event.

But as far as this upcoming Dec. 30th card goes, promoter Hideyuki Ohashi says the undercard will feature junior flyweight Ken Shiro (11-0, 5 KOs) defending his title against Gilberto Pedroza (18-3-2, 8 KOs), while also having former Olympic bronze medalist Satoshi Shimizu (4-0, 4 KOs) taking on Edward Mancito (15-7-2, 9 KOs) in a featherweight bout. Finally, Inoue's younger brother, Takuma Inoue (9-0, 2 KOs), will face Kentaro Masuda (27-8, 15 KOs) in a 10-round bantamweight outing.