25 January 2017, it was announced that Yafai, as wished, would make his first world title defence in his home city of Birmingham on 13 May, live on Sky Sports. On 15 March 2017, promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Yafai would be fighting 31 year old former Japanese flyweight champion Suguru Muranaka (25-2-1, 8 KOs) at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham. After the fight was confirmed, Yafai said that he wanted the tough fights as it would help him when it comes to unification fights. In his 13-years as a professional, it was the first time Muranaka fought outside of Tokyo, where all his previous 28 bouts took place at the Korakuen Hall. Yafai retained his world title, in what was seen as a 'touger than expected' fight. The fight went the 12 round distance, with scores reading 118–108, 119-107 and 119–107, all in favour of Yafai. Muranaka was dropped in round 2, the same round that Yafai claimed to have hurt his hand in the post fight. Referee Steve Gray warned Yafai early in the fight for low blows, before docking a point in round 8. The bout was fast-paced throughout, which caused Yafai to look tired in the later rounds, due to him landing constant power shots in the earlier rounds and Muranaka connecting with his own body shots to wear him down. After the fight, promoter Eddie Hearn said that he would have one more defence before taking part in a unification fight. Yafai vs. Ishida On 8 June 2017 the WBA's championship committee ordered Yafai to start negotiations with mandatory challenger Sho Ishida (24-0, 13 KOs), who was ranked at number 1 by the organisation. Both parties had 30 days to come to an agreement. On 12 July, Hearn confirmed that terms had been agreed for the fight. On 6 September it was confirmed that the fight would take place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua defending his world titles against Kubrat Pulev on 28 October 2017 at the Millennium Stadium on Sky Sports Box Office. Much like Yafai's previous opponent Muranaka, it would also mark the first time Ishida would be fighting outside of Japan. Towards the end of September, WBA ranked former WBC champion Roman González as their number 2. Teiken Promotions, who promote González was said to be looking to arrange a fight against Yafai. Upon hearing this, Yafai was excited at the