Boxing
Fernando “Puma” Martinez defeats Kazuto Ioka, unifies WBA/IBF 115-pound titles away in Tokyo
Fernando Martinez lands a hook during his junior bantamweight title fight with Kazuto Ioka. (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)
Fernando Martinez put in an excellent performance away from home.
The undefeated Argentine used raw aggression to sway the judges in a unanimous decision victory over Kazuto Ioka. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and a criminally delicate 120-108 (Edward Hernandez Sr.) for Martinez.
With the victory, Martinez defended his IBF 115-pound world title and won the WBA belt on Sunday at the famed Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
In a junior bantamweight fight between the No. 2 and No. 3, Martinez set a furious pace from the opening bell. The energy he brought in his lively, carnival-like entrance carried over into the ring, where he landed warm punches in the first round. Ioka showed off his world-class chin throughout the fight. He weathered the storm every time, almost always coming back with his signature body shots.
Ioka continued to attack Martinez’s center, which was a source of discomfort for the 32-year-old Argentine. Martinez responded with tough right hooks and uppercuts that repeatedly snapped Ioka’s head back but couldn’t break his will.
Martinez repeatedly fought back-and-forth throughout much of the first half. Ioka, 35, consistently made key adjustments midway through each round. But the four-time world titleholder continued to have trouble keeping Martinez at bay.
Ioka finished the first half with a vicious body attack, while Martinez seemed to favor his left hand.
The momentum carried over into the second half as Martinez was visibly affected by Ioka’s left hook to the body. However, he stood lofty and came back sturdy, landing two punches in round eight. The high volume of combinations offered by Martinez provoked attacks from Ioka, who could only weather the storm.
Ioki’s left hook to the body found its mark several times. (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)
Patience paid off substantial time for Ioka, as he consistently landed pristine combinations in rounds nine and ten. Martinez was a constant presence, but had trouble defending against Ioka’s left hook from the bottom.
Ioka — who hails from Osaka, lives in Tokyo but trains in Las Vegas — dictated the pace in the latter stages. Martinez wisely created separation between them as Ioka tried to take him down with combinations. The strategy had some success, as he was able to land right hooks down the middle. Ioka took the punches well and responded with left hooks down low and rights up high.
The ever-energetic Martinez greeted the crowd at the end of the eleventh round before settling into his corner stool. He then openly embraced Ioka at the start of the twelfth and final round before doing his best work of the fight.
Martinez’s aggression paid off, with all three judges giving him the win over Ioka. (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)
Martinez’s right hook snapped Ioka’s head back, and he seemed more surprised than anything else, but didn’t respond right away. Martinez found his rhythm and was able to land punches as he constantly switched between his conventional and left-handed style. Ioka responded with combinations, as he had done throughout the fight, but not with the same force as he had for most of the second half of the round.
Martinez kept throwing until the very end, although he fell to the floor just before the final bell.
It was the best win of Martinez’s (17-0, 9 knockouts) career, and he fought away from home for the fifth time in a row.
He won the IBF title in February 2022 with a victory over long-reigning Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs) in Las Vegas. Martinez repeated the feat with a more convincing victory in an October 2022 rematch in Carson, Calif. His 2023 campaign has featured just one fight, an 11th-round knockout of unbeaten Jade Bornea on June 24 in Minneapolis.
The fight with Ioka was the culmination of a months-long title unification effort, with Martinez in talks with both Ioka and then-Ring/lineal/WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs).
Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs) fell tiny in his second attempt to become a unified two-division champion. He was already the first boxer in Japan to win belts in four divisions, but he fell tiny of making history in a 12-round draw with Joshua Franco in December 2022. A win would see Ioka unify the WBA and WBO belts, a decade after his unified reign as WBA/WBC strawweight champion.
The stalemate had additional repercussions. Ioka was forced to fight fellow countryman Junto Nakatani, but he decided to vacate the WBO belt to rematch Franco. Last June, he defeated the San Antonio native in Tokyo to win the WBA belt.
Franco is the older brother of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), the No. 5 pound-for-pound contender in The Ring. He recently dethroned Estrada by seventh-round knockout to win The Ring/lineal/WBC 115-pound title and was ringside on Sunday.
The brother’s corner would be a great additional backdrop for a three-belt unification. Rodriguez will instead focus on a clash with Martinez, an original goal he set when he planned to return to junior bantamweight.
Ioka previously suggested that 2024 would be his final year in the sport. He has won titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight in a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Meanwhile, Martinez continues to have a great time, and his career prospects have never looked better.
Martinez-Ioka’s performance was broadcast live on Japanese television ABEMA.
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