IBF super flyweight champion Fernando Martinez will meet WBA champion Kazuto Ioka on July 7 in Tokyo.
A press conference this morning was held to announce the fight at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, and it’s an attractive meeting of 115lbs champions with 35-year-old four-division champion Ioka, 31-2-1 (16 KOs) set for the second defense of his title, and Martinez making the third defense of his.
The Argentine turned pro in 2017 and is 16-0 (9 KOs) and coming off an 11th-round stoppage of Jade Bornea last June in Minneapolis.
Ioka, who turned over in 2009, has claimed titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight. He fought to a draw with Joshua Franco at the end of 2022 in an attempt to unify at junior bantam but won a rematch six months later after Franco had failed to make weight.
Ioka stopped Josber Perez in seven rounds in his last fight on New Year’s Eve, and Ioka-Martinez takes place a week after Juan Francisco Estrada defends his WBC title against Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in Phoenix on June 29 at Footprint Center.