Anyone heard any rumours of who he will be fighting in May?
Can't imagine it'll be Ishida (#1 contender), as the mandatory won't be due until later in the year.
Rankings at the moment are -
1. Sho Ishida
2. Norasingh Kokietgym
3. Juan Francisco Estrada (is in action on February 4th)
4. Norberto Jimenez (is in action on Febaury 24th)
5. Luis Concepcion (was beaten by Yafai, can't see a rematch being made)
6. Toshiyuki Igarashi (has spoke about campaigning at 112lbs)
7. Miguel Gonzalez (lost to Paul Butler, could be viable here)
8. Takuma Inoue (likely won't fight until May, unlikely to travel, campaigning at 118)
9. Zolani Tete (campaigning at 118)
10. Rex Tso (fighting in March Vs Hirofumi Mukai)
11. Eliecer Aquino (a poor challenger given 2 losses in last 4 bouts)
12. Yohei Tobe
13. Buaphan Khamrang (AKA Chatpetch Sithmorseng)
14. Kenta Nakagawa (defending Japanese title in March)
15. Jesus Martinez
Looking at those rankings, one of the Thai's or Latin American's seems likely...or one of those "wildcards added to the rankings after a bout has been signed" deals....