Ioka drops Martinez but comes up short in thriller
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Earlier today the Ota-City General Gymnasium, in Tokyo played host to a compelling card headlined by one of the long term faces of Japanese boxing, and also showcasing some of the nation’s hottest hopefuls.
One of the emerging talents on the card was 18 year old Haruya Ogo (2-0, 1) [大胡晴哉] who was given a solid 8 rounds against Chinese fighter Xinqiang Zhao (5-2, 2), in a bout that wasn’t really reflected in the 80-71, twice, and 79-72 scorecards. Ogo was the clear winner, but he was given questions to answer regularly, with Zhao always giving something back for Ogo to think about. Despite Zhao being tough and trying to test the teenager, Ogo’s better polished skills, variety, accuracy and speed were clearly the difference makers, with Zhao putting up an effort but not coming close to really winning rounds. To his credit Zhao fought through a nasty cut, from a clash of heads in round 4, and still looked to land counters when he could.
In the later stages Zhao was looking tired and lost a point in the final round for holding. After the bout Ogo stated he was now eying a Japanese Youth title fight.
Following Ogo was 25 year old Yuya Tanaka (5-1, 3) [田中湧也] who took a clear win over Thai veteran Phai Pharob (38-8, 29), despite some scares along the way. Tanaka, who drew a lot of comparisons to Ohashi Gym stablemate Naoya Inoue due to his overall look and style, was tagged hard several times, and seemed to be rocked a few times, but did overall control the action, and gave the 42 year old Thai veteran a lot of punishment over the 8 round schedule. To his credit the Thai never gave up, and had plenty of chance to take a count and accept an early loss, but instead hsi pride held solid and he always tried to fight back.
After 8 rounds Tanaka took the win with scores of 79-73, twice, and 80-72. As with the Ogo bout the local fighter got a better test than the scores suggested, but was a clear winner. In fact if anything Tanaka likely left a more notable mark on fans due to just how much he resembled Inoue, like something of a Mini-me version of the Monster.
In what was dubbed the “semi-semi-final” bout fans saw the very highly touted Daiya Kira (3-0, 2) [吉良大弥] face a major step up in class, as he battled world ranked Venezuelan puncher Jackson Zapata (11-3-2, 9). On paper this was a massive step up in class for Kira, and it turned out to eb the sort of test he needed after 2 very quick wins. Zapata showed some very good boxing, look to control the range, use his long reach and rely on his boxing skills. In terms of pure skills, Zapata didn’t look notably, if at all, worse than Kira. The difference however was the physicality and aggression, with Kira being a bundle of offensive energy, constantly looking to get up close, landing the heavier shots, and breaking down the Venezuelan.
Zapata really was under pressure throughout, and that pressure began to break him down, with a body shot dropping him in round 7, as Kira’s body work paid dividends. The following round another body shot dropped Zapata, who showed his toughness to see out the 8 round schedule. After 8 rounds Kira won with scores of 80-70, 79-71 and 79-73. Whilst the win was important, Kira got good rounds here, had a lot of new questions to answer and got some really valuable ring time and experience, which will help him develop much more than his first 2 bouts did.
Following Kira we saw the exceptionally talented Hayato Tsutsumi (7-0, 4) [堤駿斗] continue his rapid ascent, as he destroyed Panama's Jaime Arboleda (20-4, 15). Arboleda started well and didn't show Tsutsumi too much respect in the opening round, despite being tagged by some solid shots from the Japanese star. In round 2 Tsutsumi had a chance to show off his defense and composure, fighting up close without being tagged too much, whilst landing his own solid shots, including a really eye catching right hand and a left to the body. By the end of round 2 it seemed clear Arboleda was going to be having a painful night, and things went from bad to worse for him, as he was cut early in round 3 from a clash of heads. Being cut and likely realising he was outgunned, Arboleda started looking to throw some bombs, though missed and took a lightning bolt counter left hook dropping him. AArboleda beat the count, but was under intense pressure from the restart, with the referee forced to wave the bout off.
Given the level Arboleda had fought at prior to this bout, this really showed that Tsutusmi is indeed world class, and a world title fight really is just around the corner for him.
In the main event fans got an absolute treat, as WBA Super Flyweight world champion Fernando Daniel Martinez (18-0, 9) retained his title in a genuine FOTY contender against 4-weight Japanese world champion Kazuto Ioka (31-4-1, 16) [井岡一翔], ina bout that really had everything fans could want to see.
Early on the bout was dominated by Martinez’s aggression and work rate. He looked to set a high tempo, and whilst he wasn’t always landing, he was easily catching the eye with his heavy and intense shots. It seemed, that Ioka was looking old, unable to match the tempo of Martinez, and unable to fight fire with fire, against a man who was bigger, stronger, younger and sharper. Notably however Ioka was fighting to a gameplan, and landed subtle body shots, that didn’t seem to hurt Martinez early on, but ended up paying off down the stretch. He believed in his tactics, and although they saw him losing a number of early rounds, it was a tactic that made sense, and was one that we’ve seen him use before.
Martinez really built up a lot of momentum early on, and Ioka really didn’t seem to be able to get his respect, despite landing some huge shots of his own as Martinez took a lot of risks trying to break Ioka down. Ioka began to have more and more moments as we approached the middle rounds however and around the same time Martinez began to slow. As Martinez slowed, due to a combination of his extreme work rate and the body shots, Ioka began to really get into things, and momentum began to swing his way. By round 9 Martinez was starting to struggle and the following round he was dropped for the bouts first knockdown, sending the venue into a cacophony of noise from fans who were starting to believe Ioka could indeed turn this around.
Martinez however showed his toughness, gritting it out, fighting fire with fire in the final 2 rounds, and doing all he could to hold off the late Ioka charge, despite being in agony, being exhausted, and being under pressure, he really dug deep, and had a shout at having done enough in both rounds.
After the bout, there was some feeling that Ioka had, perhaps, done just enough to overcome the hole he was in early on. In the end however, that wasn't a view shared by the judges who had Martinez winning 114-113, 115-112 and a genuinely shocking 117-110, a card that really needs to be investigated.
After the bout Ioka took part in a press conference. There he explained "It was an intense match from the first round, just like when we fought last July, and I fought with all my heart and soul. I didn't feel like I was losing because I scored the knocked down, but I'm not sure if I won. I got so heated up during the match with him that I couldn't be objective, and the 12 rounds went by in a flash. It's all about the result, so I'm frustrated that I couldn't live up to expectations. I would have liked to have won, but I also feel like I gave it my all,". Ioka then went on to add “(Martinez) can't stop hitting repeatedly when he's close. I was conscious of shifting my attack and defense back and forth to avoid that. It was difficult to time my counterattacks. I got too heated up, but I was able to show what I had prepared since the last time. When I faced him (when Martinez was resting), I felt pressured to not go forward, and I started to negotiate, but he was not an opponent that I couldn't beat,"
It then seemed like Ioka was making it clear he still had more to give the sport, saying "I cried last time, but those were tears for the people around me who supported me. This time, it's the result of what I did, so I won't shed tears. I've been savoring each and every day in preparation for this match. I don't feel like I've reached my limit yet," When asked about retiring he responded "I don't feel like I've reached my limit." and added "I was concentrating on this match, and did what I had to do,"
One of the emerging talents on the card was 18 year old Haruya Ogo (2-0, 1) [大胡晴哉] who was given a solid 8 rounds against Chinese fighter Xinqiang Zhao (5-2, 2), in a bout that wasn’t really reflected in the 80-71, twice, and 79-72 scorecards. Ogo was the clear winner, but he was given questions to answer regularly, with Zhao always giving something back for Ogo to think about. Despite Zhao being tough and trying to test the teenager, Ogo’s better polished skills, variety, accuracy and speed were clearly the difference makers, with Zhao putting up an effort but not coming close to really winning rounds. To his credit Zhao fought through a nasty cut, from a clash of heads in round 4, and still looked to land counters when he could.
In the later stages Zhao was looking tired and lost a point in the final round for holding. After the bout Ogo stated he was now eying a Japanese Youth title fight.
Following Ogo was 25 year old Yuya Tanaka (5-1, 3) [田中湧也] who took a clear win over Thai veteran Phai Pharob (38-8, 29), despite some scares along the way. Tanaka, who drew a lot of comparisons to Ohashi Gym stablemate Naoya Inoue due to his overall look and style, was tagged hard several times, and seemed to be rocked a few times, but did overall control the action, and gave the 42 year old Thai veteran a lot of punishment over the 8 round schedule. To his credit the Thai never gave up, and had plenty of chance to take a count and accept an early loss, but instead hsi pride held solid and he always tried to fight back.
After 8 rounds Tanaka took the win with scores of 79-73, twice, and 80-72. As with the Ogo bout the local fighter got a better test than the scores suggested, but was a clear winner. In fact if anything Tanaka likely left a more notable mark on fans due to just how much he resembled Inoue, like something of a Mini-me version of the Monster.
In what was dubbed the “semi-semi-final” bout fans saw the very highly touted Daiya Kira (3-0, 2) [吉良大弥] face a major step up in class, as he battled world ranked Venezuelan puncher Jackson Zapata (11-3-2, 9). On paper this was a massive step up in class for Kira, and it turned out to eb the sort of test he needed after 2 very quick wins. Zapata showed some very good boxing, look to control the range, use his long reach and rely on his boxing skills. In terms of pure skills, Zapata didn’t look notably, if at all, worse than Kira. The difference however was the physicality and aggression, with Kira being a bundle of offensive energy, constantly looking to get up close, landing the heavier shots, and breaking down the Venezuelan.
Zapata really was under pressure throughout, and that pressure began to break him down, with a body shot dropping him in round 7, as Kira’s body work paid dividends. The following round another body shot dropped Zapata, who showed his toughness to see out the 8 round schedule. After 8 rounds Kira won with scores of 80-70, 79-71 and 79-73. Whilst the win was important, Kira got good rounds here, had a lot of new questions to answer and got some really valuable ring time and experience, which will help him develop much more than his first 2 bouts did.
Following Kira we saw the exceptionally talented Hayato Tsutsumi (7-0, 4) [堤駿斗] continue his rapid ascent, as he destroyed Panama's Jaime Arboleda (20-4, 15). Arboleda started well and didn't show Tsutsumi too much respect in the opening round, despite being tagged by some solid shots from the Japanese star. In round 2 Tsutsumi had a chance to show off his defense and composure, fighting up close without being tagged too much, whilst landing his own solid shots, including a really eye catching right hand and a left to the body. By the end of round 2 it seemed clear Arboleda was going to be having a painful night, and things went from bad to worse for him, as he was cut early in round 3 from a clash of heads. Being cut and likely realising he was outgunned, Arboleda started looking to throw some bombs, though missed and took a lightning bolt counter left hook dropping him. AArboleda beat the count, but was under intense pressure from the restart, with the referee forced to wave the bout off.
Given the level Arboleda had fought at prior to this bout, this really showed that Tsutusmi is indeed world class, and a world title fight really is just around the corner for him.
In the main event fans got an absolute treat, as WBA Super Flyweight world champion Fernando Daniel Martinez (18-0, 9) retained his title in a genuine FOTY contender against 4-weight Japanese world champion Kazuto Ioka (31-4-1, 16) [井岡一翔], ina bout that really had everything fans could want to see.
Early on the bout was dominated by Martinez’s aggression and work rate. He looked to set a high tempo, and whilst he wasn’t always landing, he was easily catching the eye with his heavy and intense shots. It seemed, that Ioka was looking old, unable to match the tempo of Martinez, and unable to fight fire with fire, against a man who was bigger, stronger, younger and sharper. Notably however Ioka was fighting to a gameplan, and landed subtle body shots, that didn’t seem to hurt Martinez early on, but ended up paying off down the stretch. He believed in his tactics, and although they saw him losing a number of early rounds, it was a tactic that made sense, and was one that we’ve seen him use before.
Martinez really built up a lot of momentum early on, and Ioka really didn’t seem to be able to get his respect, despite landing some huge shots of his own as Martinez took a lot of risks trying to break Ioka down. Ioka began to have more and more moments as we approached the middle rounds however and around the same time Martinez began to slow. As Martinez slowed, due to a combination of his extreme work rate and the body shots, Ioka began to really get into things, and momentum began to swing his way. By round 9 Martinez was starting to struggle and the following round he was dropped for the bouts first knockdown, sending the venue into a cacophony of noise from fans who were starting to believe Ioka could indeed turn this around.
Martinez however showed his toughness, gritting it out, fighting fire with fire in the final 2 rounds, and doing all he could to hold off the late Ioka charge, despite being in agony, being exhausted, and being under pressure, he really dug deep, and had a shout at having done enough in both rounds.
After the bout, there was some feeling that Ioka had, perhaps, done just enough to overcome the hole he was in early on. In the end however, that wasn't a view shared by the judges who had Martinez winning 114-113, 115-112 and a genuinely shocking 117-110, a card that really needs to be investigated.
After the bout Ioka took part in a press conference. There he explained "It was an intense match from the first round, just like when we fought last July, and I fought with all my heart and soul. I didn't feel like I was losing because I scored the knocked down, but I'm not sure if I won. I got so heated up during the match with him that I couldn't be objective, and the 12 rounds went by in a flash. It's all about the result, so I'm frustrated that I couldn't live up to expectations. I would have liked to have won, but I also feel like I gave it my all,". Ioka then went on to add “(Martinez) can't stop hitting repeatedly when he's close. I was conscious of shifting my attack and defense back and forth to avoid that. It was difficult to time my counterattacks. I got too heated up, but I was able to show what I had prepared since the last time. When I faced him (when Martinez was resting), I felt pressured to not go forward, and I started to negotiate, but he was not an opponent that I couldn't beat,"
It then seemed like Ioka was making it clear he still had more to give the sport, saying "I cried last time, but those were tears for the people around me who supported me. This time, it's the result of what I did, so I won't shed tears. I've been savoring each and every day in preparation for this match. I don't feel like I've reached my limit yet," When asked about retiring he responded "I don't feel like I've reached my limit." and added "I was concentrating on this match, and did what I had to do,"