By Jake Donovan

There won't be another year-long layoff for Takashi Uchiyama, which is a good thing since the 130 lb. division can use the activity at the top level.

The unbeaten long-reigning titlist returns to the ring on May 6, when he faces fellow undefeated junior lightweight Jomthong Chuwatana from Thailand at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. The bout will mark the fifth consecutive appearance at the venue for Uchiyama (22-0-1, 18KOs), who also attempts the 10th defense of the title he has held since 2010.

Uchiyama, 35, has hardly auditioned as the poster child for ring activity at any point in his career, having never fought more than three times in a calendar year. Still, he remains effective at the top level, including four consecutive wins on New Year's Eve. His most recent holiday win—a 9th round stoppage of Israel Perez—ended a year-long break from the ring, recovering from injuries and generally getting his head right following an off-the-canvas 12-round win over durable Daiki Kaneko in Dec. '13. 

Any chances of Kaneko returning to the title picture were thwarted by Chuwatana (9-0, 4KOs), a precocious and motivated boxer from Thailand who came up big in their 12-round clash earlier this year. Chuwatana scored a close-but-clear decision, and has now been 12 rounds in four of his last five fights—a remarkable stat considering he only has nine pro fights overall. 

The chief support will feature Uchiyama's stablemate Ryoguchi Taguchi, who makes the first defense of his 108 lb. title as he faes Thailand's Kwanthai Sithsmorseng.

Taguchi (21-2-1, 8KOs) claimed a title on last year's New Year's Eve show topped by Uchiyama, scoring a 12-round decision over Alberto Rossel. While the win is his biggest to date, the 28-year old is currently best known for his valiance in defeat, the lone fighter to go the full distance with Naoya Inoue, extending the wunderkind 10 rounds in their Aug. '13 clash.

Inoue has gone on to capture belts at junior flyweight and most recently at junior bantamweight. The knockout wins over Adrian Hernandez and Omar Narvaez, respectively, were good enough to land him BoxingScene.com 2014 Fighter of the Year honors. 

Sithmorseng (49-3-1, 26KOs) has won three straight, albeit versus nondescript opposition. The 30-year old Thai is 2-1 in major title fights, having briefly served as a strawweight titlist but has also suffered knockout losses to Muhammad Rachman (ending his title reign) and then-unbeaten 108 lb. titlist Kazuto Ioka. 

Both bouts will air live on TV Tokyo in Japan. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox