Kazuto Ioka vs. Joshua Franco - December 31, 2022

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kazuto Ioka-Joshua Franco Title Unification Bout Eyed For New Year's Eve In Japan

Kazuto Ioka has grown accustomed to ending every year with a bang.

This occasion will carry extra special meaning.

Boxing Scene has confirmed that plans are in place for Ioka to next face Joshua Franco in a junior bantamweight title unification clash on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Ioka would risk his WBO title, while Franco put his WBA ‘Super’ belt on the line in a terrific matchup awaiting final approval before being formally announced. A venue was not confirmed as this goes to publish, although Ioka has regularly fought at Tokyo’s Ota-City General Gymnasium in each of his last five starts including three straight New Year’s Eve headliners.

It is understood that the matchup will be addressed at the upcoming annual WBO convention later this month in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ioka all but helped launch the tradition of Japan holding a major boxing show on New Year’s Eve. The nation’s only-ever male boxer to win major titles in four weight divisions topped such an event during his first title reign in 2011, making the second successful defense of the WBC strawweight title he acquired earlier that year. He’s since fought on New Year’s Eve every year except for 2017, when he momentarily retired from sport before returning in 2018.

The year-end plans for 2021 called for Ioka to face then-IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas. The bout was scrapped due to another national lockdown to help prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid, which in turn disallowed foreign travelers from crossing Japan’s borders.

Ioka instead fought and defeated countryman Ryoji Fukunaga over twelve rounds, followed by his most recent win—a dominant unanimous decision win over former four-division titlist Donnie Nietes on July 13 in Tokyo. Ioka avenged a prior defeat to Nietes in the process, having dropped a split decision to the Filipino on New Year’s Eve 2018 in Macau—the only time Ioka has fought outside of Japan on the date, and also his lone defeat on the holiday.

Franco (18-1-2, 8KOs) has not fought since a repeat win over Andrew Moloney last August 14 in Tulsa. The win saw Franco go up 2-0 with one No-Decision in their odd trilogy that began with a twelve-round decision win over a then-unbeaten Moloney in June 2020 to win the secondary WBA ‘World’ (Regular) title.

An upgrade has since followed, as Franco is now the lone recognized WBA titleholder in the division. He was due to challenge lineal/WBA ‘Super’ champion Juan Francisco Estrada (43-3, 28KOs) in a title consolidation clash that was targeted for June or July but which never materialized as Estrada opted to head in a direction that would lead to a rubber match with legendary former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (51-3, 41KOs) which will take place December 3 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The development ended with Estrada stripped of his title, the second belt he had given up during his championship reign. He cashed in the WBC belt for ‘Franchise’ title status, with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez—Franco’s younger brother—claiming the physical belt in a win over former champ Carlos Cuadras in their February 5 vacant title fight.

The significance in the move with the WBA strap is that Franco—as a recognized full titlist—was then able to explore unification bouts, as the other sanctioning bodies do not recognize the WBA’s secondary titles. The San Antonio native—who turns 27 later this month—landed a career-best opportunity which will mark his first pro fight outside of North America.

The upcoming clash with Franco will mark the sixth attempted defense of the WBO junior bantamweight title Ioka claimed in a June 2019 knockout win over Aston Palicte. The feat saw Ioka make history for Japan as the only male boxer to win titles in four weight divisions.

Even more history is sought with this bout. A win will leave Ioka as the only-ever Japanese boxer to claim unified title status in two weight divisions. He unified the WBC and WBA strawweight titles in a June 2012 decision win over countryman Akira Yaegashi, an event that marked the first unification bout between reigning titlists from Japan.

With this fight now due to take place four weeks after Estrada-Gonzalez III, it will truly mark a December to remember for the junior bantamweight division.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ioka-Franco Unification Approved By WBO, Set For December 31 In Japan

Kazuto Ioka and Joshua Franco are cleared to unify the junior bantamweight division.

Plans for the terrific WBA/WBO unification bout was formally approved by the WBO, the final hurdle in finalizing plans for a December 31 showdown in Tokyo. As previously reported by BS.com, the already-agreed upon bout was subject to confirmed sanctioning by the WBO, who blessed the fight Thursday morning during its annual convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The winner will be required to face the WBO-named mandatory challenger within 180 days of the unification bout. That opponent will likely be Junto Nakatani, who vacated his WBO flyweight title Thursday morning and was unanimously approved to be named as number-one contender at junior bantamweight.

Ioka will risk his WBO title, while Franco put his WBA ‘Super’ belt on the line in a terrific matchup awaiting final approval before being formally announced. The news is a double pleasure to Franco, which comes as he celebrates his 27th birthday.

It will also mark the eleventh time that Ioka will headline a New Year’s Eve show, including his tenth in Japan as part of a tradition he all but helped launch.

Japan’s only-ever male boxer to win major titles in four weight divisions, Ioka topped a New Year’s Eve event during his first title reign in 2011, making the second successful defense of the WBC strawweight title he acquired earlier that year. He’s since fought on New Year’s Eve every year except for 2017, when he momentarily retired from sport before returning in 2018.

The year-end plans for 2021 called for Ioka to face then-IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas. The bout was scrapped due to another national lockdown to help prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid, which in turn disallowed foreign travelers from crossing Japan’s borders.

Ioka instead fought and defeated countryman Ryoji Fukunaga over twelve rounds, followed by his most recent win—a dominant unanimous decision win over former four-division titlist Donnie Nietes on July 13 in Tokyo. Ioka avenged a prior defeat to Nietes in the process, having dropped a split decision to the Filipino on New Year’s Eve 2018 in Macau—the only time Ioka has fought outside of Japan on the date, and also his lone defeat on the holiday.

Franco (18-1-2, 8 KOs) has not fought since a repeat win over Andrew Moloney last August 14 in Tulsa. The win saw Franco go up 2-0 with one No-Decision in their odd trilogy that began with a twelve-round decision win over a then-unbeaten Moloney in June 2020 to win the secondary WBA ‘World’ (Regular) title.

An upgrade has since followed, as Franco is now the lone recognized WBA titleholder in the division. He was due to challenge lineal/WBA ‘Super’ champion Juan Francisco Estrada in a title consolidation clash that was targeted for June or July but which never materialized as Estrada opted to head in a direction that would lead to a rubber match with legendary former four-division champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.

The development ended with Estrada stripped of his title, the second belt he had given up during his championship reign. He cashed in the WBC belt for ‘Franchise’ title status, with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez—Franco’s younger brother—claiming the physical belt in a win over former champ Carlos Cuadras in their February 5 vacant title fight.

The significance in the move with the WBA strap is that Franco—as a recognized full titlist—was then able to explore unification bouts, as the other sanctioning bodies do not recognize the WBA’s secondary titles. The San Antonio native—who turns 27 later this month—landed a career-best opportunity which will mark his first pro fight outside of North America.

The upcoming clash with Franco will mark the sixth attempted defense of the WBO junior bantamweight title Ioka claimed in a June 2019 knockout win over Aston Palicte. The feat saw Ioka make history for Japan as the only male boxer to win titles in four weight divisions.

Even more history is sought with this bout. A win will leave Ioka as the only-ever Japanese boxer to claim unified title status in two weight divisions. He unified the WBC and WBA strawweight titles in a June 2012 decision win over countryman Akira Yaegashi, an event that marked the first unification bout between reigning titlists from Japan.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Winner ordered to Fight Nakatani

“Please be advised that the WBO World Championship Committee is hereby granting sanction approval for the above-referenced Jr. Bantamweight Unification Contest between Kazuto Ioka and Joshua Franco,” WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas communicated to both teams via official letter, a copy of which was obtained by Boxing Scene. “Sanction approval is subject to the mandate issued by the WBO General Assembly during the WBO 35th Annual Convention on Thursday, October 27, 2022, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the signed agreement between Team Ioka and Team Franco provided therein.

“The foregoing agreement is incorporated herein. The winner of Ioka/Franco must face the WBO Jr. Bantamweight Mandatory Challenger Junto Nakatani no later than 180-days after the fight.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight confirmed to take place at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo

[Ruthless-RKO]

This the next big fight?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ioka Closes Out Another Boxing Year With Unification Bout Against Franco

There isn’t a whole lot of continuity in terms of the annual boxing calendar, but there are a few things fans know they can look forward to. In the United States, a major fight is always scheduled for Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekend respectively, generally featuring a major star from Mexico, but not always. However, since 2011, fans have been able to mark a Kazuto Ioka fight on their calendars for New Year’s Eve with relative certainty. Save for a brief retirement in 2017, the last major fight of the year has belonged to Ioka, Japan’s most consistently popular fighter of the last decade, and one of the country’s most accomplished of all-time.

This year is no different, as Ioka, the WBO super flyweight champion will close out the 2022 boxing calendar with a 115-pound unification bout against WBA titleholder Joshua Franco. In terms of additional predictable scheduling, the bout will be held at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, the home of the Earthfriends Tokyo Z basketball club, and the site of Ioka’s last five fights.

A week after Naoya Inoue became the first Japanese fighter in history to become undisputed champion in the four-belt era, Ioka has an opportunity to make more national history. Already the country’s first male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka could become Japan’s first unified world champion in two weight classes. In 2012, Ioka defeated Akira Yaegashi in the first-ever unification bout between two Japanese titlists to marry his WBC minimumweight title with Yaegashi’s WBA strap in his final appearance at 105.

Despite his historic success, Ioka has felt like a fighter underappreciated in the Western world. A major reason is that Ioka has had the same issue that most Asian fighters have in terms of visibility outside of their home country. Though his 2020 victory over Kosei Tanaka was aired on ESPN platforms and on allegedly in the United Kingdom, and of course made a 2018 appearance on HBO, the vast majority of his fights have aired in Japan exclusively. For those who have ever attempted to find a feed or a copy of Japanese boxing matches online, you’ll know it’s more heavily policed by rightsholders than action from seemingly anywhere else.

But beyond the logistical difficulties Ioka has had in terms of Western visibility, he’s also found himself overshadowed by his contemporaries in his weight neighborhood and several fellow countrymen. Ioka has run parallel to names like Chocolatito Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada who have been staples of the pound-for-pound list for years and have become household names in the US boxing market. Ioka never ran into either Chocolatito or Estrada, or the two other fighters often lumped in with them in this era, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras. Instead, he’s essentially mirrored Gonzalez’s movement in weight, winning titles in the same weight classes as he has. Though he didn’t clash with any of the aforementioned greats, he certainly hasn’t avoided challenges, scoring wins over Tanaka, Oleydong Sithsamerchai, Akira Yaegashi, Felix Alvarado, Juan Carlos Reveco, McWilliams Arroyo and Donnie Nietes.

During Ioka’s run, several Japanese fighters have garnered significant buzz in America, including Inoue, Tanaka and Ryota Murata, leading many outside of Japan to assume that Ioka lagged behind them in terms of star power. That said, although Murata is still likely the biggest single-event draw in Japan thanks to his Olympic gold medal, Ioka has been the country’s most consistent television draw dating back to the early 2010s. His bout against Tanaka drew over a ten per cent share of the country’s two largest regions, Kanto and Kansai, and his previous bout against Jeyvier Cintron topped out just below those numbers as well, producing what Scott Graveson of the indispensable website Asian Boxing estimated to be a multi-million viewer turnout.

There has also been the issue of Ioka quite literally being an enemy of the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC). Ioka was punished by the commission for having tattoos visible during his win over Tanaka. Body markings continue to be a thorny cultural issue in Japan where they are often associated with criminality, despite a younger generation’s pushback against that line of thinking. For a period of time, Ioka suggested that he would consider not fighting in Japan anymore in protest, but opted for a bolder method instead. Just months later, Ioka was suspended for a positive cannabis test, one which was overturned after his B-sample came up negative. Prior to his name being cleared however, the results were leaked to the local police and national media, resulting in what Ioka has described as a traumatizing time in which he lost sleep, battled depression and generally thought his career was over. Yuhei Nagata, JBC chairman, admitted publicly that "the handling of the samples was sloppy, and it's a fact that Ioka's reputation was tarnished by his name being leaked to the media," and offered to apologize to Ioka in person, an invitation Ioka did not immediately accept.

As his accolades have piled up and his popularity in Japan has maintained, Ioka has reached a point in his career in which observers are starting to look back and re-contextualize it. His resume is already plenty good enough to land him in Canastota, although Asian fighters of repute have historically had difficulty on the ballot when placed next to fighters who received more Western attention. With a win over Franco, and some of the opportunities that could present, Ioka could make himself undeniable. Bouts against Estrada, WBO mandatory Junto Nakatani and even Inoue have all been rumored or hinted at to varying degrees.

Ioka has felt like an outlaw of sorts. Comfortable with his immense popularity at home, but never vocally envious of any of the buzzy fighters who have overshadowed him at times. Proud of his role as one of the leaders of Japanese boxing but not afraid to confront authority, and willing to walk away in the times he felt necessary. A fighter who has stayed the course and been one of the sport’s most reliable high-level operators, and the last man we see with his hand raised each and every year.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

Date: Tuesday, December 13
Main card: 7 pm JST / 10 am GMT / 5 am ET
Main event ringwalks (approx): 9:30 pm JST / 12:30 pm GMT / 7:30 am ET

Fight Card

Kazuto Ioka vs. Joshua Franco; For Ioka's WBO and Franco's WBA (regular) super flyweight belt
Hayato Tsutsum vs. Pete Apolinar; Featherweight
Ryo Nakai vs. Kai Watanabe; Super featherweight
Ryuto Owan vs. Robin Langres; Super bantamweight
Satsuki Ito vs. Wassana Kamdee; Super flyweight
Kentaro Miyamoto vs. Taiga Ito; Super welterweight
Akira Nakashima vs. Kantaro Nakanishi; Super bantamweight
Kazuki Ogiawara vs. Ayato Mochizuki

[bobcatbox]

Any way to watch this?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Any watch to watch this?

No US or UK streaming.

I believe there might be a Japanese channel that might show it on Youtube

[handsofstone]

It says Franco is the WBA Regular champ, do they have a Super champ at Super Fly?

[Ruthless-RKO]

It says Franco is the WBA Regular champ, do they have a Super champ at Super Fly?

No.

It was Estrada after he robbed Choco last year but he vacated.

This fight is gonna be for the Super WBA belt as it's a unification.

Why not just call it WBA belt and be gone with the regular/super bullshit at Super Fly.

[handsofstone]

It says Franco is the WBA Regular champ, do they have a Super champ at Super Fly?

No.

It was Estrada after he robbed Choco last year but he vacated.

This fight is gonna be for the Super WBA belt as it's a unification.

Why not just call it WBA belt and be gone with the regular/super bullshit at Super Fly.

Correct, the WBA have had plenty opportunities to bin the regular but just cant seem to let go

[SendoTakeshi]

Why not just call it WBA belt and be gone with the regular/super bullshit at Super Fly.

Because of $$$.
The more belts they have, the more money they get. That's why people get a shot at their regular belt even after getting knocked out.
WBA are a joke now.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ioka made weight on his 2nd attempt.

[margaret thatcher]

ioka looks soft

[Counter-puncher]

ioka looks soft

[Ruthless-RKO]

ioka looks soft

Franco looks drained

[MightyWarrior]

Fights coming up early apparently anyone got a link?

[MightyWarrior]

Watching it on Mikey Garcia’s insta

[margaret thatcher]

draw

[DrDuke]

Rematch next time, Josh loves 'em.