Ioka to defend WBO title against Fukunaga!
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Earlier this month we reported the unfortunate news that the New Year's Eve Super Flyweight world title unification bout between WBO champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15) [井岡一翔] and IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22) was off, due to the Japanese response to the Omicron variant of Covid19, which lead to the country essentially closing it's borders.
Whilst it was disappointing to see that bout cancelled, it has now been confirmed that Ioka will still be in action at the end of the year, as he defends his title against fellow Japanese fighter, and former triple crown champion, Ryoji Fukunaga (15-4, 14) [福永亮次], who is stepping up in class, in a huge way.
For Ioka the bout seems to be a case of staying busy, giving fans something to enjoy before the year is over, and not letting inactivity set in, especially given the Ancajas could still place in the first half of 2022. It's in, many ways, a case of fighting against Fukunaga is better than not fighting at all, even if the bout is a massive, and we mean massive, downgrade from what had been planned for him. It also saves us something to look forward to at the end of the year, something that didn't seem likely just 2 weeks ago.
As for Fukunaga the bout is his biggest, by far. He has managed to do a lot in his career, winning the Rookie of the Year in 2016, and unifying the JBC, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles. Along the way he head beaten Froilan Saludar, Kenta Nakagawa and Hayate Kaji, with the bout against Kaji being his most recent and his most controversial with many feeling he got a gift. In the ring he's heavy handed, tough, and aggressive, but can be out boxed, as we saw against Kaji. At the age of 35 this is likely to be his only world title fight, but it's fair to say he will put everything into it, knowing he has nothing to lose.
The bout is set to be televised on TBS from 6:30PM local time, and is one of just 4 bouts set for the show in general, with the others being fought off TV.
For those who haven't seen Fukunaga before, his bout with Froilan Saludar can be seen below.
Whilst it was disappointing to see that bout cancelled, it has now been confirmed that Ioka will still be in action at the end of the year, as he defends his title against fellow Japanese fighter, and former triple crown champion, Ryoji Fukunaga (15-4, 14) [福永亮次], who is stepping up in class, in a huge way.
For Ioka the bout seems to be a case of staying busy, giving fans something to enjoy before the year is over, and not letting inactivity set in, especially given the Ancajas could still place in the first half of 2022. It's in, many ways, a case of fighting against Fukunaga is better than not fighting at all, even if the bout is a massive, and we mean massive, downgrade from what had been planned for him. It also saves us something to look forward to at the end of the year, something that didn't seem likely just 2 weeks ago.
As for Fukunaga the bout is his biggest, by far. He has managed to do a lot in his career, winning the Rookie of the Year in 2016, and unifying the JBC, OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific titles. Along the way he head beaten Froilan Saludar, Kenta Nakagawa and Hayate Kaji, with the bout against Kaji being his most recent and his most controversial with many feeling he got a gift. In the ring he's heavy handed, tough, and aggressive, but can be out boxed, as we saw against Kaji. At the age of 35 this is likely to be his only world title fight, but it's fair to say he will put everything into it, knowing he has nothing to lose.
The bout is set to be televised on TBS from 6:30PM local time, and is one of just 4 bouts set for the show in general, with the others being fought off TV.
For those who haven't seen Fukunaga before, his bout with Froilan Saludar can be seen below.