The stakes couldn’t get much higher for Kenshiro Teraji’s upcoming bout against Seigo Yuri Akui on March 15, but you would never know that he was on the brink of a historically important moment by talking to him. After all, he’s been here before.

Teraji and Akui will meet in just the third-ever title unification bout between two Japanese fighters holding titles from different sanctioning bodies in a bout to be aired in the Western world on ESPN+ and Sky Sports. Teraji, The Ring’s No. 2 rated flyweight will put his WBC title on the line, while Akui, The Ring’s No. 3-rated flyweight, will wager his WBA title. One of the other two times this anomaly took place involved Teraji himself, when he defeated Hiroto Kyoguchi to unify the light flyweight titles in June of 2022, and the first was in 2012 when Kazuto Ioka defeated Akira Yaegashi at minimumweight.

At a public workout on March 3, held at his home-base of the Misato Gym in Tokyo, Japan, Teraji couldn’t have appeared more relaxed. After all, it’s a bout he went way out of his way to ask for, against an opponent he is acutely familiar with. Teraji petitioned the WBC to allow him to pursue the unification bout against Akui rather than face Francisco Rodriguez Jr.. Teraji has spent many rounds sparring Akui in the past, and although years have gone by since they shared the ring, he suspects that even an improved version of Akui will look rather similar.

"Even if he has changed his style, it doesn't matter that much. His habits won't change," Teraji told reporters in a scrum also uploaded to the Oricon YouTube page, which boasts over two million subscribers. “I want to overwhelm him. I want him to think I am overwhelmingly strong.”

This time around, Teraji trained alongside and sparred The Ring’s No. 9-rated bantamweight Daigo Higa, the former flyweight champion who recently fought to a draw with WBA bantamweight champion Seiya Tsunami, who has been able to approximate the kind of pressure Akui is expected to bring. With Higa now resting, Teraji also has Japanese light flyweight champion Toshiki Kamawitsu, and 19-year old bantamweight prospect Sento Ito, whom Teraji has praised for his jab and predicts could have world title potential himself.

With a victory, Teraji could join Naoya Inoue as only the second Japanese boxer to ever unify titles in two different weight classes, after reigning at light flyweight before moving up to capture the WBC flyweight title with an 11th round knockout victory over Cristofer Rosales last October. However, Teraji suggested that this could be the end of the line for him at flyweight, admitting that he’s thinking about moving up—or even down—in search of other opportunities. “The Wonder Boy” told reporters in January that he “doesn’t want to be restricted by anything” in terms of his next maneuver, but was more direct in his answer to questioning about further flyweight unification bouts this time around.

“I’m not really that interested,” said Teraji. The 33-year old, who will be competing in his 17th world title fight, understandably insists that the stakes of the bout haven’t altered his mindset in any way. "It's the same as always. I don't think anything of it."

One of the reasons a chase for undisputed at flyweight may not be immediately tantalizing to him is the fact that the other two titleholders in the division, by the end of the month, could very well be fighters he’s already defeated. Former Teraji foes Anthony Olascagua and Hiroto Kyoguchi will face off for the WBO flyweight title in the co-feature of the same card. Later in the month, IBF champion Angel Ayala will face another former Teraji opponent, Masamichi Yabuki.

Although, as he suggested of his opponent, it’s doubtful that Teraji will have a wholesale change in approach from his gunslinger attitude, he stressed that controlling the pace of the bout in the face of the dogged Akui pressure will be paramount.

"I want to avoid a situation where I'm constantly being pressed. It's important to fight at my own pace, not roughly,” said Teraji.

One of the ways Teraji is becoming as relaxed in the ring as he is out of it is through the lengthening of the leash, so to speak, from his trainer Kenta Kato.

"Recently, I've been trying to reduce the amount of instructions I give during sparring, and Kenshiro has become able to think for himself while fighting. He's also become quicker in making decisions during the rounds," said Kato following the workout.

Once Teraji had politely brushed off all suggestions of danger in the bout and downplayed his divisional ambitions, reporters were forced to take the topics in more leisurely directions. Teraji noted that he added additional blonde coloring to his hair and had a fresh perm. Other than time in the salon, he said the only thing he’s been doing during camp is occasional boat race betting. In fact, Teraji has said in the past that he wanted to be a boat racer himself until his amateur boxing accomplishments started to pile up enough during his time at Kansai University that a pro boxing career seemed like the better option.

In the end, Teraji tied the lessons he’s learned wagering on his once-desired profession into his mindset heading into the Akui bout.

“You can't win against human greed,” said Teraji. “That's why I (won’t) get greedy (for a knockout) this time. I think boxing will teach me things. I'll try not to get greedy (in boat racing) either."