Joshua Franco vs. Kazuto Ioka II | Abema PPV - June 24, 2023

[Ruthless-RKO]

Stats and Stakes

Kazuto Ioka

Age: 34
Current Titles: None
Previous Titles: WBC Minimumweight (2011-12, 3 Defenses); WBA Minimumweight (2012); WBA Light Flyweight (2014*); WBA Flyweight (2016-17, 2 Defenses; WBO Jr. Bantamweight (2019-23, 6 Defenses)
Height: 5’4 ½
Weight: 114 ¾ lbs.
Stance: Orthodox
Hails from: Tokyo, Japan
Record: 29-2-1, 15 KOs
Press Rankings: #2 (TBRB, Ring), #3 (ESPN, BoxRec)
Record in Major Title Fights: 12-2-1, 5 KO (20-2-1, 11 KO including WBA sub-title fights)
Last Five Opponents: 125-10-9 (.899)
Notable Outcomes, TBRB and/or Ring Rated Foes: Oleydong Sithsamerchai TKO5; Akira Yaegashi UD12; Felix Alvarado UD12; Juan Carlos Reveco MD12, TKO11; McWilliams Arroyo UD10; Donnie Nietes L12, UD12; Aston Palicte TKO10; Jeyvier Cintron UD12; Kosei Tanaka TKO8; Francisco Rodriguez Jr. UD12; Joshua Franco D12
Additional Current/Former Titlists Faced: Juan Hernandez UD 12; Amnat Ruenroeng L12

*Ioka won sub-versions of the WBA belts at Jr. flyweight and flyweight only to be elevated when primary titlists Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada vacated those belts, respectively. Title reign dates reflect those moves.

vs.

Joshua Franco

Age: 27
Title: WBA Super Flyweight (2022-Present, 1 Defense*)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’4
Weight: 121 ¼ lbs.
Stance: Orthodox
Hails from: San Antonio, Texas
Record: 18-1-3, 8 KOs, 1 KOBY
Press Rankings: #3 (TBRB), #4 (ESPN, Ring), #7 (BoxRec)
Record in Major Title Fights: 0-0-1 (2-0-1, 1 No Contest including sub-title fights)
Last Five Opponents: 109-6 (.948)
Notable Outcomes, TBRB and/or Ring Rated Foes: Andrew Moloney UD12, NC2, UD12; Kazuto Ioka D12
Additional Current/Former Titlists Faced: N/A

*Joshua won the WBA sub-title in the division in 2020 from Andrew Moloney in 2020 and has defended it twice. He was elevated to primary WBA titlist when Juan Fracisco Estrada’s claim to the title was vacated in 2022.

[SendoTakeshi]

Over 3 kg overweight at super fly? That's wild.
I hope Ioka wins, because it's gonna leave a bad taste if Franco wins after being two weight-classes above Ioka during the weigh-in.

A big boxing match in japan on weekend feels like a treat, after having so many matches during the week.

[Ruthless-RKO]

When is this?

[Ruthless-RKO]

WHAT TIME IS FRANCO VS. IOKA?

• Date : Saturday, June 24

• Time : 7 a.m. ET / 12 p.m. BST / 8 p.m. JST

• Main event ringwalks (approx): 9:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. BST / 10 p.m. JST

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kazuto Ioka Outpoints Joshua Franco In Rematch, Wins WBA Title

Kazuto Ioka didn’t get the knockout win he craved but lived up to his vow to make every punch count.

Japan’s only-ever male boxer to win titles in four weight divisions got it right the second time around in a WBA junior bantamweight title-winning effort over Joshua Franco. Ioka landed the more telling blows throughout their rematch, which he won via unanimous decision Saturday evening at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

Surprisingly close scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 all landed for Ioka, who became a six-time titleholder through four weight divisions. The feat came six months after Ioka and Franco fought to a twelve-round, majority draw in their December 31 WBA/WBO junior bantamweight title unification bout at this same venue.

Just one belt was at stake for the rematch and only available for Ioka to win after Franco was more than six pounds over the 115-pound divisional limit. The miserable scale fail ended his brief stay as a full WBA titlist, while Ioka entered as the challenger after he was relieved of his WBO reign outside the ring earlier this year.

Franco opened the fight similar to their first meeting, as he was jab-heavy and significantly outworked Ioka, whose punches were more impactful but far less frequent in what became a feel-out session for the local favourite.

It didn’t take long for Ioka to warm up. He came out fired up in the second round and briefly stunned Franco who used lateral movement to recover. Ioka was effective to the body and was able to back up Franco, who remained the more active fighter but whose combinations mostly caught Ioka’s gloves and arms.

The trend would continue over the next several rounds. Franco threw punches in bunches but not with a lot behind them. Ioka continued to target the body and landed crisp uppercuts in round three.

A right hand to the body by Ioka punctuated a fourth round that saw Franco begin to land with greater frequency but overshadowed by Ioka’s cleaner, straighter punches down the middle.

Franco was forced to deal with a cut over his right eye in round five, as blood would stream down the side of his face for the balance of the fight. The action became much closer in the middle rounds, with Franco showing improvement from the early portion of the fight but, at best, only barely winning a round or two as he could not overcome Ioka’s greater accuracy.

Ioka did not want to leave anything to chance but began to feel good about his performance, as he showboated toward the end of round nine. Franco seized the moment and outworked his foe in his best effort to reduce the wide and potentially insurmountable gap on the scorecards.

Momentum went back to Ioka in the tenth, who used feints to set up his left hook and straight right hands. He wasn’t as accurate as was the case in the previous rounds but still more so than Franco who followed the trend of the first fight where the volume far exceeded the impact.

It was clear heading into the championship rounds that Franco needed a knockout to leave Tokyo with a win, even if without his title.

Instead, it was Ioka who continued to apply heavy pressure and a persistent body attack along with potent left hooks upstairs. Franco continued to let his hands go but was unable to time Ioka's head movement.

Ioka was reduced to tears after his name was announced as the official winner.

The 34-year-old future Hall of Famer advanced to 30-2-1 (15 KOs) with the win, a record that includes 16-2-1 (7 KOs) in primary title fights across four weight divisions. He now enters his second title reign at junior bantamweight, as he gave up his WBO belt to proceed with Saturday’s rematch.

Franco fell to 18-2-3 (8 KOs) as the night completed a road trip he will soon want to forget. It was an emotionally exhausting week for the visiting American, who was left to believe just days ahead of the rematch that that bout would not go through. His body never recovered as he miserably missed weight and ended his title reign at the scale.

The setback saw Franco fall to 0-1-1 in primary title fights, both versus Ioka. Franco was upgraded to full WBA titleholder when Juan Francisco Estrada was stripped of his ‘Super’ title status for failure to honor an ordered title consolidation bout.

Ioka similarly ended his WBO junior bantamweight reign after four years and six successful title defenses. He chose to proceed with the Franco rematch in lieu of an ordered mandatory title defense versus countryman Junto Natakani, who claimed the vacant belt with a 12th round knockout of Andrew Moloney.

Estrada, Natakani and even the winner of the Fernando Martinez-Jade Bornea IBF junior bantamweight title fight later this evening in the U.S. are now targets for Ioka who strongly desires to unify the division.

The goal was in place last New Year’s Eve, when Ioka had the chance to become Japan’s first ever boxer to unify two or more titles in at least two weight divisions. Naoya Inoue now has the chance to beat him to that mark, should he prevail over WBC/WBO junior featherweight champ Stephen Fulton on July 25 in Tokyo.

That won’t discourage Ioka from still making his mark on the sport and Japanese boxing history, something he has grown accustomed to doing for much of his 14-year career. Saturday’s result was merely the latest entry.

[margaret thatcher]

another good win for ioka - is he a hall of famer?

[SendoTakeshi]

another good win for ioka - is he a hall of famer?

I'd say yes. He achieved alot more then most boxers would and as a four-weight-champ he is on par with living legend Adrien "The Problem" Broner.
No, but seriously. That's something only a selected few can say about themselfs.

He does miss that one defining win, though. Even though he got guys like SRR, Estrada, Gonzalez and now even Nakatani in his weight-class.

I do think the HOF is overrated anyway. When guys like McGuigan and Johansson can be inducted, everybody could be inducted.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Joshua Franco has retired.

[margaret thatcher]

oh dang was not expecting that, lost the drive?

[SendoTakeshi]

I don't know what's up with boxers recently retiring
in their twenties because of mental problems.
Not to be mean, I don't know what he is going through, but nowadys everyone seems to have some sort of mental problems.

[handsofstone]

Excellent fight, no drama to speak of just 2 quality operators going about their business, just about every round competitive, looked like Ioka just about done enough but Franco well in it

[world ranked]

another good win for ioka - is he a hall of famer?

I'd say yes. He achieved alot more then most boxers would and as a four-weight-champ he is on par with living legend Adrien "The Problem" Broner.
No, but seriously. That's something only a selected few can say about themselfs.

He does miss that one defining win, though. Even though he got guys like SRR, Estrada, Gonzalez and now even Nakatani in his weight-class.

I do think the HOF is overrated anyway. When guys like McGuigan and Johansson can be inducted, everybody could be inducted.

I think Tanaka win was defining fight. A lot people were stamping Tanaka as P4P guy and he stopped him. He will be underrated by most it will difficult for him but he's borderline but I personally think he should get in.

[SendoTakeshi]

Tanaka was a good win for sure, but he didn't do anything before or after fighting Ioka in that weight class.
Nakatani and Estrada would still be a great win for him to have on his record.