BoxRec

Sounds like it was a good fight and hopefully this will grow into a rivalry. That's something that boxing needs, and Franco's done it 3 times apiece with Negrette and Moloney already; whereas Ioka had a fierce pair of fights with Juan Carlos Reveco, in which he stopped his man to erase doubts regarding a razor thin points win.

I'm a massive Ioka admirer but I did not see an easy win coming - as Franco is tough, seasoned, applies good pressure and is one of the few who could perhaps have given young, big and powerful Inoue a good battle. Also I had questions about Ioka's fire after the win over Rodriguez Jr, in which he appeared polished but lacked some urgency.

Hopefully these two will settle it in a rematch. This appears to be the opponent Ioka has been looking for, after the long awaited one with long reigning Ancajas was stalled due to Ancajas' pair of riveting defeats to Martinez. The rivalries that happen aren't always the ones that are manufactured, and Franco might be the one whom Ioka must seal his greatness against.

Damn, I missed the fight. I didn't expect it to be that early.

Was it really that competetive? I didn't expect anything but a win for Ioka, but currently with the 3 scorecards on boxrec from the Fans it's 119:109 for Franco, which is hard to believe.
The first scorecard was also a draw.

Saw the last 6 rounds on YouTube and it appeared very fiercely competitive. Franco looked huge compared to Ioka (reminding me of Ioka vs Palicte & Cintron, it's a former strawweight vs a much bigger man) and applied pressure in combinations, mostly hitting gloves but one big shot usually snook in. Ioka looked very tired but showed many little pockets of class. Franco really appears to have matured, and I doubt Ioka will be happy with the performance, as when there's little to separate them people often prefer the one going forward. I hope they have a rematch and that Ioka will put more rallies in.

SendoTakeshi wrote: ↑31 Dec 2022, 06:40 Damn, I missed the fight. I didn't expect it to be that early.

Was it really that competetive? I didn't expect anything but a win for Ioka, but currently with the 3 scorecards on boxrec from the Fans it's 119:109 for Franco, which is hard to believe.
The first scorecard was also a draw.

could be franco fanbois running the score up for him, the boxrec card's now 114.25-113.75, so essentially a draw

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑31 Dec 2022, 15:58

SendoTakeshi wrote: ↑31 Dec 2022, 06:40 Damn, I missed the fight. I didn't expect it to be that early.

Was it really that competetive? I didn't expect anything but a win for Ioka, but currently with the 3 scorecards on boxrec from the Fans it's 119:109 for Franco, which is hard to believe.
The first scorecard was also a draw.

could be franco fanbois running the score up for him, the boxrec card's now 114.25-113.75, so essentially a draw

What was is before

116-112 Franco for me but that was watching it on my phone with a fair amount of distractions in the background, it was an ok fight, no drama, neither guy down or hurt, Franco was the quicker out the blocks took the first half of the fight, outworked Ioka and put the combinations together, Ioka came into things finally in the middle rounds began letting his hands go more and more, shaded the second half of the fight but I had Franco having a good last couple rounds

They'll have to do it again

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑31 Dec 2022, 15:58 could be franco fanbois running the score up for him, the boxrec card's now 114.25-113.75, so essentially a draw

Yeah, you are probaly right.
I just watched the fight and it was pretty even. Franco was busier, but a draw is totally fine. People nowadays don't know what a robbery is or don't know anything about boxing and just play fanboy.
The media also seems to agree for it to be pretty even.

Hopefully we get atleast one more fight with that draw.

I agree with 116-112 Franco. Good fight. I wouldn't argue with 115-113 but I do with 114-114.

goose 5 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2022, 21:18 I agree with 116-112 Franco. Good fight. I wouldn't argue with 115-113 but I do with 114-114.

you think they got some homecooking in japan for ioka? i think you had roddy beating him too right

CompuBox Stats

I scored it to Ioka by one.

His defense, body punching & accuracy simply cannot be ignored. Although troubled by Franco’s strength, size & persistence Ioka was by far the more accurate.

Franco was superb, though.

Outstanding battle & they have to do it again. Did Ioka realise that this was perhaps the toughest & most important fight of his career. I wonder if he should have used movement in the first half, rather than the second half of the fight.

If Franco can improve from this, then Ioka could be in trouble. If they have a rematch, Ioka most put everything into it, like it’s his last ever fight. Wouldn’t feel to sorry for Franco as many feel he’s been lucky in the past (Moloney 2, Negrete etc).

Hoping for a brilliant rematch.

josh in great shape and very busy but missing a ton of it

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑01 Jan 2023, 05:04 josh in great shape and very busy but missing a ton of it

Agreed. I think that’s why his combination punching was so important. Sometimes one would sneak through.

Ioka, nevertheless, put in some very nifty counters, especially rights to the head and body.

Robert Garcia is a boxing genius. How he gets these guys to go at such a volume is incredible. Rematch of this fight in America would be awesome, but we’re probably looking at another Tokyo fight. I’m sure the money is bigger there for everyone given what a huge star Ioka is.