Kazuto Ioka announces rematch with Fernando Daniel Martinez for New Year's Eve
Back in July we had a fantastic bout at Super Flyweight as Fernando Daniel Martinez (17-0, 9) unified his IBF title with the WBA “super” title as he defeated Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 16) [井岡一翔]. Following that bout it was initially unclear what the plan was for either man, as there was an IBF mandatory defense due and Ioka had spoken about retirement or a potential move to Bantamweight. In the months that followed however it seemed clear that a rematch was in the works, with Martinez and Marcos Maidana appearing on Argentinian TV to announce that a rematch had been agreed to, set to take place at the end of the year.
It appeared those comments were downplayed by Ioka’s team, with Yusuke Ninomiya, the Shisei Gym manager telling the Japanese press in August "I don't know anything and nothing has been decided. Nothing has been decided yet, including his future." and adding "We don't know why this report came out. Once something has been decided, we would like to make a proper announcement.". It seemed however that Ninomiya was trying to put the cat back in the bag after it had escaped, and that everyone in boxing knew what was going on.
Today Ninomiya was finally happy with the full details of not just the match but the full card being released, as Ioka himself attended a press conference to announce that the rematch would headline "LifeTime Boxing Fights 25" and be held at the Ota Ward General Gymnasium on New Year's Eve, wit the event being shown on ABEMA in Japan. It was also acknowledged this bout would only be for the WBA title, with the IBF title being handed back by Martinez to secure this fight instead of facing his mandatory challenger.
Speaking about the bout, Ioka revealed "I have a strong desire to get revenge on him," and admitted the talk about retirement wasn’t totally honest, stating "Even if the match with him didn't come to fruition, I wanted to continue my career. I wasn't sure if the rematch would be possible, but I asked him to negotiate. It's a special feeling to have the annual rematch on New Year's Eve. I wanted to show the people who support me that I'm climbing up again,"
As for Martinez, who attended the event via video link, he explained "I understood that I would lose the IBF title by having a direct rematch, but I think it will be a fight that everyone will be happy with. I have heard that fighting on New Year's Eve is very important in Japan's long history. As an Argentine, it is a great honor for me to fight in Japan on New Year's Eve."
The bout will be the third time in his career that Ioka has had a rematch, and he is 3-0 in them*. He explained his thought process to them, saying "A rematch is beneficial for both sides because we have information from the previous match. If we base the match too much on information, it will be completely different, so there are pros and cons. In terms of fighting, there isn't much difference between a rematch and a first fight, but it's important to use the information from the previous match."
As well as the main bout, the under-card was also announced in full, with 9 bouts in total. The real talking point was a world title eliminator, as Hayato Tsutsumi (5-0, 2) [堤 駿斗] commits to being a Super Featherweight, having missed weight for a Featherweight bout against Anselmo Moreno earlier this year, to take on experienced veteran Rene Alvarado (31-14, 22), with both men having WBA world rankings at 130lbs. Alvarado, despite his record featuring double digit losses, is a world class fighter who won the WBA Super Featherweight title in 2019, before losing it in 2021. During his long, 45 bout, career he has been stopped just once, losing on cuts in 2015 to Andrew Cancio, a loss he avenged 4 years later, and has spent much of the last decade in and around the world title scene. On paper this is very much a step up in class for Tsutsumi, against a natural 130lb fighter, and if he wins he will be right in the mix for a 2025 world title fight.
Other under-card bouts include the second professional outing for former kickboxer Tsukuru Midorikawa (1-0) [緑川創 as he takes on 39 year old veteran Mao Tameda (4-17-2) [為田真生], Joe Shiraishi (11-1-1, 6) [白石聖] taking on Tsuyoshi Sato (11-2-1, 6) [佐藤剛] in what is a really well matched bout, former regional champion Yoshimitsu Kimura (15-3-1, 10) [木村吉光] facing Chinese novice Hanyun Wu (4-2-0-1, 1), and Areji Kato (10-5, 2) [加藤亜礼史] facing former Japanese champion Masahiro Suzuki (10-2-1, 7) [鈴木雅弘]
*Those rematches came against Juan Carlos Reveco, Donnie Nietes and Joshua Franco
It appeared those comments were downplayed by Ioka’s team, with Yusuke Ninomiya, the Shisei Gym manager telling the Japanese press in August "I don't know anything and nothing has been decided. Nothing has been decided yet, including his future." and adding "We don't know why this report came out. Once something has been decided, we would like to make a proper announcement.". It seemed however that Ninomiya was trying to put the cat back in the bag after it had escaped, and that everyone in boxing knew what was going on.
Today Ninomiya was finally happy with the full details of not just the match but the full card being released, as Ioka himself attended a press conference to announce that the rematch would headline "LifeTime Boxing Fights 25" and be held at the Ota Ward General Gymnasium on New Year's Eve, wit the event being shown on ABEMA in Japan. It was also acknowledged this bout would only be for the WBA title, with the IBF title being handed back by Martinez to secure this fight instead of facing his mandatory challenger.
Speaking about the bout, Ioka revealed "I have a strong desire to get revenge on him," and admitted the talk about retirement wasn’t totally honest, stating "Even if the match with him didn't come to fruition, I wanted to continue my career. I wasn't sure if the rematch would be possible, but I asked him to negotiate. It's a special feeling to have the annual rematch on New Year's Eve. I wanted to show the people who support me that I'm climbing up again,"
As for Martinez, who attended the event via video link, he explained "I understood that I would lose the IBF title by having a direct rematch, but I think it will be a fight that everyone will be happy with. I have heard that fighting on New Year's Eve is very important in Japan's long history. As an Argentine, it is a great honor for me to fight in Japan on New Year's Eve."
The bout will be the third time in his career that Ioka has had a rematch, and he is 3-0 in them*. He explained his thought process to them, saying "A rematch is beneficial for both sides because we have information from the previous match. If we base the match too much on information, it will be completely different, so there are pros and cons. In terms of fighting, there isn't much difference between a rematch and a first fight, but it's important to use the information from the previous match."
As well as the main bout, the under-card was also announced in full, with 9 bouts in total. The real talking point was a world title eliminator, as Hayato Tsutsumi (5-0, 2) [堤 駿斗] commits to being a Super Featherweight, having missed weight for a Featherweight bout against Anselmo Moreno earlier this year, to take on experienced veteran Rene Alvarado (31-14, 22), with both men having WBA world rankings at 130lbs. Alvarado, despite his record featuring double digit losses, is a world class fighter who won the WBA Super Featherweight title in 2019, before losing it in 2021. During his long, 45 bout, career he has been stopped just once, losing on cuts in 2015 to Andrew Cancio, a loss he avenged 4 years later, and has spent much of the last decade in and around the world title scene. On paper this is very much a step up in class for Tsutsumi, against a natural 130lb fighter, and if he wins he will be right in the mix for a 2025 world title fight.
Other under-card bouts include the second professional outing for former kickboxer Tsukuru Midorikawa (1-0) [緑川創 as he takes on 39 year old veteran Mao Tameda (4-17-2) [為田真生], Joe Shiraishi (11-1-1, 6) [白石聖] taking on Tsuyoshi Sato (11-2-1, 6) [佐藤剛] in what is a really well matched bout, former regional champion Yoshimitsu Kimura (15-3-1, 10) [木村吉光] facing Chinese novice Hanyun Wu (4-2-0-1, 1), and Areji Kato (10-5, 2) [加藤亜礼史] facing former Japanese champion Masahiro Suzuki (10-2-1, 7) [鈴木雅弘]
*Those rematches came against Juan Carlos Reveco, Donnie Nietes and Joshua Franco