On March 29, 2025, the 24-year-old IBF flyweight world champion, Ángel Ayala (17-0, 8 KOs), faced a 32-year-old Japanese boxer Masamichi Yabuki (17-4, 16 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Ayala came in to the fight on a 17-fight win streak with a 47% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 7 months and 20 days. Yabuki was on a 4-fight win streak with a 76% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 17 days.
Masamichi Yabuki stopped the champion via TKO in the final round of the 12-round world-title fight, and is crowned the new IBF flyweight champion. Yabuki improves his record to 18-4 (17 KOs), while Ayala adds a loss to his record at 17-1.