---
title: "Soto meets ex-champ Takayama on Canelo-Saunders bill"
canonical: "https://boxing-social.com/news/soto-meets-ex-champ-takayama-on-canelo-saunders-bill/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Boxing Social Staff"
section: "News"
published: "2021-04-17T06:43:57Z"
modified: "2021-04-17T06:50:41Z"
---

# Soto meets ex-champ Takayama on Canelo-Saunders bill

WBO light-flyweight champion Elwin Soto, a recent signing for Matchroom Boxing USA, will defend his crown against former world title-holder Katsunari Takayama on the Canelo Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders undercard at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on May 8.

Mexican Soto (18-1, 12 KOs) will be making the third defence of the belt he won with a rousing last round KO of Angel Acosta, whilst trailing on all three scorecards, in June 2019.

A previous holder of five strawweight world titles with the WBC, WBO and IBF, Takayama (32-8, 12 KOs) returned to the ring last December after a four-year hiatus. The veteran from Osaka, Japan, is now 37, but hasn’t been stopped in 18 years.

WBA ‘Super’ light-flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi (15-0, 10 KOs), another Matchroom fighter, is also mooted to appear on the Canelo-Saunders card with an eventual unification bout with Soto in mind, according to *ESPN Deportes*.

*Main image: World Boxing Organisation.*