Ioka's long term focus changes from Estrada to Rodriguez
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This coming weekend we’ll see a brilliant unification bout at Super Flyweight, as WBA "super" champion Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16) [井岡一翔] takes on IBF champion Fernando Daniel Martinez (16-0, 9) in Tokyo. Today, ahead of that bout, Ioka took part in a media work out and press conference.
Speaking about his hopes for the future Ioka made it clear he had eyes on not just Martinez, but also WBC champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, explaining "Bam fought Estrada, who I've always wanted to fight, and Bam won. At this stage, he is the most highly rated fighter. By beating Bam, I can gain recognition for myself. My target has changed, but what I have to do remains the same. First of all, I would like to win this match and unify the three organizations."
Talking about Estrada, Ioka stated that he “wasn't shocked that Estrada lost” an added “he's from the same era as me, so it's strange to say I wanted him to win” before explaining “and the story was that I would fight Estrada if we both,", though of course with Estrada losing to Bam, the appeal of the Ioka Vs Estrada bout has obviously died down somewhat.
Interestingly Ioka also explained that "I've fought Joshua Franco, Bam's older brother, so I think we're destined to be together. The story has changed, but what I have to do hasn't changed."
As for the actual fight at hand, against Martinez, Ioka has been training over in Las Vegas, and explained "I've been training my mind and body to improve beyond my last fight. I've done everything I can," Among the training he’s done over there is sparring with aggressive fighters, who throw a lot of punches, including Venezuelan fighter Angelino Cordoba (18-1-1, 12), who recently fought Julio Cesar Martinez in a WBC Flyweight title fight. Ioka's trainer Shuhei Sasaki, was complementary of Cordoba, explaining "Cordoba has a similar style to Martinez, so we were able to make good adjustments. Including his weight, he's doing better than usual."
Sadly the actual work out was a very short one, with Ioka doing a single round of shadow boxing.
Speaking about his hopes for the future Ioka made it clear he had eyes on not just Martinez, but also WBC champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, explaining "Bam fought Estrada, who I've always wanted to fight, and Bam won. At this stage, he is the most highly rated fighter. By beating Bam, I can gain recognition for myself. My target has changed, but what I have to do remains the same. First of all, I would like to win this match and unify the three organizations."
Talking about Estrada, Ioka stated that he “wasn't shocked that Estrada lost” an added “he's from the same era as me, so it's strange to say I wanted him to win” before explaining “and the story was that I would fight Estrada if we both,", though of course with Estrada losing to Bam, the appeal of the Ioka Vs Estrada bout has obviously died down somewhat.
Interestingly Ioka also explained that "I've fought Joshua Franco, Bam's older brother, so I think we're destined to be together. The story has changed, but what I have to do hasn't changed."
As for the actual fight at hand, against Martinez, Ioka has been training over in Las Vegas, and explained "I've been training my mind and body to improve beyond my last fight. I've done everything I can," Among the training he’s done over there is sparring with aggressive fighters, who throw a lot of punches, including Venezuelan fighter Angelino Cordoba (18-1-1, 12), who recently fought Julio Cesar Martinez in a WBC Flyweight title fight. Ioka's trainer Shuhei Sasaki, was complementary of Cordoba, explaining "Cordoba has a similar style to Martinez, so we were able to make good adjustments. Including his weight, he's doing better than usual."
Sadly the actual work out was a very short one, with Ioka doing a single round of shadow boxing.