On Sunday, WBA junior bantamweight Kazuto Ioka will return to his traditional New Year’s Eve fight against former world title challenger Josvar Perez at Tokyo’s Ota-ku General Gymnasium.
Ioka, the No. 1 junior bantamweight in the ring, had hoped to face ring champion and WBC titlist Juan Francisco Estrada. Unfortunately, the two sides were unable to broker an agreement, but the show must go on.
“My team spent a lot of time in persistent negotiations with Estrada’s camp, but we were unable to reach an agreement,” Ioka (30-2-1, 15 KOs) told The Ring through Yusuke Ninomiya. told. “Of course it’s unfortunate, but for me the fight with Estrada is not everything.”
“I am a champion and believe it is my duty to fight the challenger. There are also many boxing fans who are looking forward to my fight on New Year’s Eve. Therefore, even if it is not a unification fight, I decided to fight on New Year’s Eve.”
Although no agreement was reached, it is believed that there is still the possibility of a fight in the future.
Ioka said, “The team and Estrada’s camp will continue discussions to make this match happen next year.”
However, that could be hampered by talk of IBF/WBO flyweight titlist Jesse Rodriguez returning to 115 pounds, where he mentioned facing the highly sought-after Estrada.
Ioka, 34, has won major titles in four weight classes. He initially won the title at strawweight, but then moved up to junior flyweight and then added some hardware at flyweight.
He retired for 17 months and returned to find further success in the junior bantamweight division, initially winning the WBO title, but abandoning the throw to face Joshua Franco in a summer rematch.
Ioka is a consummate professional and while he remains focused on Perez in his first title defense, he wants to secure a career-defining fight next year.
“This will be my 12th time having a title match on New Year’s Eve,” he said proudly. “I think it is my mission to fight on New Year’s Eve, so I will definitely win this match.
“We will become unified champions in 2024.”
While this may be something of a reversal from the proposed unification with Estrada, Ioka still has work to do, boxing early and defeating his challenger before being forced to stop in the eighth round. I’m hoping it will ease the force.
Perez (20-3, 18 KOs) turned professional in 2016. The power-punching Venezuelan faltered in the fourth fight but bounced back in style to win the national title and regional WBA belt. The 28-year-old lost a close battle to former world title challenger Rober Barrera (UD10).
When Perez challenged the Ukrainian WBA title in 2020, he was overwhelmed by Artem Darakian (UD12). After a three-year hiatus, he returned with three wins.
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