Kazuto Ioka sees a “challenge going forward” in his clash with Fernando Martinez

Four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka has long been favored to join the junior bantamweight division. He thought he would face then Ring champion and WBC title holder Juan Francisco Estrada late last year only for things to fall apart during negotiations.

However, Ioka, who is ranked No. 2 by The Ring at junior bantamweight, and his team have been able to trade with IBF undefeated Fernando Martinez, and the two will clash at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday.

“I'm happy to have the unification fight,” Ioka (32-2-1, 16 knockouts) told The Ring about Yusuke Ninomiya. “I think it's a challenge going forward, fighting the IBF champion is a big challenge. I have never won the IBF title, so I want to win it!”

He was unable to secure the aforementioned fight with Estrada, who ended up deciding to fight rising star Jesse Rodriguez last weekend, and the result Ioka was watching.

“Due to the nature of the program, the negotiations did not go well and did not happen at the end of last year,” he said, although he did not elaborate, but it is believed that Estrada's financial needs were too much. an obstacle.

“I want to fight the winner of the Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez fight,” he said.

As usual, Ioka headed down to Las Vegas for four weeks to train under the watchful eye of longtime trainer Ismael Salas, where he has been sparring with former world champion Angelino Cordova (18-1-1, 12 KOs), the nominee. imitating the aggressive style of another South American.

The 35-year-old, who will be participating in his 26th world title fight, is as determined as ever, having become a champion 15 years ago.

Since then, he has gone on to win the WBA and WBC strawweight titles before moving up to junior flyweight and flyweight where he captured the WBA belts. At junior bantamweight he won the WBO and WBA titles, although he had to vacate the WBA title to face Joshua Franco in a rematch after being held to a draw rather than face his obligation. Such was his desire to face Joshua again.

“I have come so far, but I am not satisfied with where I am, I want to see how far I can go and prove myself,” he explained. “I want to give courage to the people watching. Yes, I will fight for my family and the people who support me.”

This makes for an interesting stylistic matchup, Ioka's skills versus Martinez's relentless aggression. However, I think Ioka has home advantage and having the tips work in her favor.

It should be noted that Martinez has had five of the last six fights outside of Argentina and won, although when he came to the fight he would not fight for more than a year. In my prediction, Ioka uses his incredible skills and movement to keep Martinez from changing direction and win a hard-fought but only 12-round decision.

Martinez (16-0, 9 KOs), ranked No. 3 by The Ring at junior bantamweight, he was an outstanding rookie and represented his country of Argentina internationally. He appeared in the World Series of Boxing and the 2016 Olympics before turning professional in 2017.

“Pumita” won his first nine fights, all in Argentina, before heading to South Africa to stop Athenkosi Dumezweni (TKO 11). The 32-year-old was largely unknown until he upset Jerwin Ancajas (UD 12) to win the IBF title and repeated the feat in his first defense. He followed that up with a late stoppage over fellow Filipino Jade Bornea (TKO 11).

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