The IBF super flyweight world champion, Fernando Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs) has pulled out of his rematch with Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 15 KOs) who was the four-division world champion due to the flu that was previously scheduled for them. fighting on December 31.
Repetition Delayed
It is not yet known if they plan to reschedule the fight. It will take some time, obviously, for Argentina’s Martin, 33, to recover from his illness, but it shouldn’t be too long under the right circumstances.
This is bad news for the fans but perhaps a good thing for the 35-year-old Ioka, who was badly beaten in their last fight on July 7 in Tokyo, Japan.
Ioka will have to get a The Fountain of Youth defeating Martinez in a rematch. Martinez looked very old in his loss last July. He’s looked poor in recent fights over the past three years, but Martinez put the stamp on that with a one-sided win last summer.
Points
117-111
120-108
116-112
Given the one-sided war, there is almost no point in rematch except for business purposes. It wasn’t enough of a fight for a rematch, but from Ioka’s point of view, it’s understandable why he wanted to at least try to avenge the loss. He had never been beaten so loudly before in his 15-year career.
However, his performances against Joshua Franco in 2022 and 2023 already indicated that Ioka was nearing the end of his career. Ioka looked terrible in both fights and was very lucky to escape without losing twice.
“It was a good decision by the ‘Puma’ team not to let him fight the flu. We are waiting for a decision to postpone or a decision to be made regarding this,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X, responding to the news of the IBF super flyweight champion, Fernando Martinez, who chose not to continue his rematch with Kazuto Ioka due to illness. “Champion ‘Puma’ Martinez will not fight on December 31 due to the flu.”
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