I think selective defoliation would be ok at this point. Just the larger fan leaves that are on the bottom quarter of the plant.
If you want to get some light into the middle, you can tuck leaves behind others to open it up a bit more. It’s still a bit small for any major defol.
The fan leaves are like energy generators for the nodes, but once it developed new growth, those will become the new generators, and you can cut the older leaf off. Hope this helps some!
cheers
(Edit: remember to keep up on your IPM, don’t want any issues to come up. Looks lush and healthy, nice job)