Comments Thread For: Kazuto Ioka aiming for revenge against Fernando Martinez in familiar territory

[BoxingUpdates]

Japanese veteran Kazuto Ioka will challenge an old rival, for his old belt, when he takes on Argentina's WBA junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez on December 31. The 12-round rematch is set for the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, five months after Martinez, then IBF boss, outpointed Ioka via unanimous decision in a unification tussle in the same city's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
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[Elheath]

Been a known rumor for months so no surprise, but the official announcement is always nice.

Personally I'm interested in the WBA eliminator for Hayato Tsutsumi in 130 as being the semi...interesting to see how he does at a division above.

[Tatabanya]

Martinez to repeat the win. He's an animal, too hungry for the Ioka of now.

[Elheath]

Martinez to repeat the win. He's an animal, too hungry for the Ioka of now.

I expect Martinez to win as well, but the first match was fun (the guy that gave 120-108 was effin blind, I agree Martinez won for sure but no way it was a total one way fight like that) and with the career winding down for Ioka might as well get him the last few NYE celebration title fights.

And although Puma ain't gonna mention it that bluntly but he is definitely getting the most money this way. He didn't just vacate IBF just because the first fight was fun, but because it was the best money fight (NYE in Japan against Ioka) available for December. The IBF mandatory would've gotten him literally nothing financially, and given that Bam had Guevara lined up this month anyway. Plus if he's willing to fight Bam they can still easily do it next spring/early summer and get great unification money, but why not double dip on a less risky Ioka rematch before a high risk high reward Bam fight?

Same reason I also expect Cafu and Tanaka to have a voluntary defense rematch before Cafu considers an unification with Bam/Puma where he's near certainly losing (if considering his close match with Tanaka) because given the players available at 115 right now and the risk vs reward Cafu probably thinks he'd have better odds and cash that way.

[Malvado]

Been a known rumor for months so no surprise, but the official announcement is always nice.

Personally I'm interested in the WBA eliminator for Hayato Tsutsumi in 130 as being the semi...interesting to see how he does at a division above.

Rene Alvarado hasn't fought at Super Featherweight for years now.

Might be a similiar case to Keyshawn Davis fighting a drained José Pedraza all over again.

[crimsonfalcon07]

Hopefully the winner of this fight will take on Bam to crown the king of the division.

[famicommander]

Hopefully the winner of this fight will take on Bam to crown the king of the division.

Bam is already the king of the division. The winner of this fight would simply be another challenger. Bam is the lineal, TBRB, and Ring world champion. Ioka and Martinez are fighting over a trinket.

[Malvado]

Bam is already the king of the division. The winner of this fight would simply be another challenger. Bam is the lineal, TBRB, and Ring world champion. Ioka and Martinez are fighting over a trinket.

Still wouldn't be bad if Bam would still solidify his Super Flyweight Run further.

Ioka/Martinez II winner then move up Bantamweight if there is no other business to handle at 115 if Cafu nor Tanaka are available.

[crimsonfalcon07]

Bam is already the king of the division. The winner of this fight would simply be another challenger. Bam is the lineal, TBRB, and Ring world champion. Ioka and Martinez are fighting over a trinket.

If you want to be the king, you can't have undefeated champions in your division that you don't fight. I think Bam beats Puma and Ioka both, but there's not that much difference between collecting what's now Turki's belt, some made-up titles that don't even have any broad recognition, and an alphabet belt. Legacy is always improved by defeating all the credible challengers, especially when you've already avoided one of the biggest threats twice.

[Elheath]

Bam is already the king of the division. The winner of this fight would simply be another challenger. Bam is the lineal, TBRB, and Ring world champion. Ioka and Martinez are fighting over a trinket.

Doubt anyone is denying Bam is the best guy in 115 right now. However, having the winner of Ioka-Martinez 2 on his resume isn't gonna to hurt Bam so I'd be up for it unless Bam is planning to go to 118 next for Nakatani. In fact I'd say the winner of that match is the de facto number 2 in 115.

Chocolatito is a legend but at this point he's below Martinez (or Ioka if he actually wins) and Tanaka/Cafu is a tier below that.