Japanese veteran Kazuto Ioka will problem an outdated rival, for his outdated belt, when he takes on Argentina’s WBA junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez on December 31. The 12-round rematch is ready for the Ota-Metropolis Basic Gymnasium in Tokyo, 5 months after Martinez, then IBF boss, outpointed Ioka through unanimous determination in a unification tussle in the identical metropolis’s Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The 33-year-old Martinez, 17-0 (9 KOs), has since relinquished the IBF title to pursue this return with Ioka, 31-3-1 (16 KOs).
The battle will mark the ninth time that Ioka, 35, has fought within the Ota Metropolis Basic Gymnasium. He’s but to expertise a loss there.
Nonetheless, this can be a tough project for Ioka; one decide gave Martinez each spherical (120-108) again in July. The opposite scores have been 117-111 and 116-112.
“I felt limitless frustration after that loss,” Ioka mentioned immediately relating to the primary battle with Martinez. “I am positively going to make amends and show I can get again on prime.”
Ioka, who in 2019 grew to become the primary Japanese boxer to win belts in 4 completely different weight lessons, accepts that this can be a must-win contest, significantly at this stage of his profession.
“I will not essentially retire if I lose, however this is not a world the place you may maintain pondering there’ll at all times be one other likelihood,” Ioka admitted.
