Kazuto Ioka did not waste any time to establish himself at a new weight.
The former four-division titlist made quick work of Venezuela’s Maikel Ordosgoitti, whom he stopped in the 4th round of their WBA 118lbs title eliminator. Ioka scored knockdowns, the latter of which was enough to put away Ordosgoitti in their Lemino-streamed main event Wednesday from Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Ioka, 32-4-1 (17 KOs), entered the fight on the heels of back-to-back defeats to Fernando Martinez, the first which ended his second 115lbs title reign. The two years between wins is the largest such gap at any point in his storied, Hall of Fame-bound career.
That problem was corrected on Wednesday, for which he officially weighed a career-heaviest 118lbs to begin his bantamweight campaign. The additional poundage carried well for Ioka, who hadn’t scored a knockout in two years but quickly appeared to be on his way.
Ordosgoitti, 15-2 (14 KOs), a WBC Boxing Grand Prix participant, quickly found himself out of his depth in by far his biggest step-up in class. The visiting Venezuelan had only fought once before outside of his home country - this past April during the opening round of the WBC Boxing Grand Prix tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ordosgoitti suffered a knockdown en route to a six-round, unanimous decision defeat to Mexico’s Angel Hinojosa.
He barely made it out of the 2nd round, when Ioka floored Ordosgoitti with a digging body shot. Ordosgoitti beat the count and made it to the bell, but could never land anything in return to make Ioka flinch, much less turn the tide.
Ioka once again went to his left hook to the body in the 4th round. The force of the shot visibly moved Ordosgoitti to his left before he found himself back on the canvas. This time, his corner urged referee Koji Tanaka to end the fight, saving their charge from additional punishment.
The early night marked Ioka’s first knockout since his previous New Year’s Eve headliner, a 7th round stoppage of Josber Perez. Overall, Ioka is now 11-1-1 (8 KOs) on the year-end holiday.
Wednesday’s victory puts him in line for the WBA 118lbs title, though a crowded field given the sanctioning body’s addiction to creating different versions of the belt.
Seiya Tsutsumi, 13-0-1 (8 KOs), is the current primary WBA 118lbs titleholder after his narrow win over Nonito Donaire two weeks ago. However, Donaire, 43-9-1 (28 KOs), is lobbying for a rematch, along with “Champion in Recess” Antonio Vargas due a shot at his old best by no later than April 15.
It makes sense, then – for that reason as well as the new streaming platform for Ioka – that the next stated target could instead be WBC 118lbs titleholder Takuma Inoue, 21-2 (5 KO). Both boxers are now under Lemino, a move made by Ioka shortly upon finalizing this event after years of fighting on rival streaming platform ABEMA-TV.
As previously reported by BoxingScene, rumors have already swirled of Inoue-Ioka landing on next year’s targeted Naoya Inoue-Junto Nakatani super card at the Tokyo Dome. Naoya is Takuma’s older brother, and Ioka’s promoter – Yusuki Ninomiya of Shishei Promotions – has an excellent relationship with Riyadh Season, who will be the primary sponsor for the event.
A win by Ioka will see him become Japan’s first-ever male five-division titlist, and joining the legendary Naoki Fujioka as the nation’s only two boxers to accomplish the feat.
Ioka is already the first male Japanese boxer to win titles at four weights – 105, 108, 112 and 115 – which he achieved in 2019. He is joined only by Naoya Inoue (108, 115, undisputed 118, undisputed 122), who captured his fourth divisional crown in 2023.
Rising junior flyweight Daiya Kira shines in co-feature
Wednesday’s card also featured the latest step in the blindingly quick development of Daiya Kira, 4-0 (3 KOs).
The second-year pro is already in line for the WBA 108lbs title after a 2nd round knockout of Ivan Garcia Balderas, 13-5-1 (5 KOs), in their title eliminator. A right hand put Garcia on the canvas, as he was counted out by referee Nobuto Ikehara at 27 seconds of the 2nd round.
Kira, a training and promotional stablemate of Ioka, turned pro last June and was quickly advanced to 8-round fights by his second pro outing. Wednesday was his first scheduled 10-round affair, presumably to be followed by his first scheduled 12-round contest next year.
Wednesday’s win will put Kira in line for the WBA 108lbs title currently held by unified WBA/WBO titlist Rene Santiago. There could be a slight delay in getting the title shot, as Santiago is also considering a rematch with former WBO titlist Shokichi Iwata.
