Earlier today we had a great show from Japan, featuring a number of notable prospects, as well as a future world title challenger and a thrilling world title unification bout.
As part of the under-card 2022 All Japan Amateur Bantamweight champion
Aoi Yokoyama (1-0, 1) [横山葵海] made his professional debut, as he took on the previously unbeaten Chinese fighter
Hao Wang (2-1, 2), and did so in 2 rounds whilst impressing former world champion Takashi Uchiyama, who stated that he was “very strong”. with that praise being echoed by trainer Kazue Machida and promoter Hitoshi Watanabe, who seemingly know they have a special talent on their hands. Wang was in trouble at the end of the opening round, before being stopped in round 2 as Yokoyama put into practice what he’d been doing in sparring.
There was also a win for the touted
Kantaro Juri (7-0-1, 2) [重里侃太朗], as he overcame Thai veteran
Phai Pharob (37-5, 28). Despite the win, which was a wide decision after 8 rounds, we can’t help but think Juri will be disappointed, given he was dropped in round 4 and was hurt after the knockdown. He will also feel somewhat frustrated at not being able to see off the 41 year old former Minmumweight, who had been stopped in 3 of his 4 previous losses.
In the co-feature we had another Japan Vs Thailand bout as
the unbeaten Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8) [堤聖也] took out his frustration, following a lengthy break from the ring, on Thailand’s tough but horribly over-matched Weerawat Noolae (4-2, 2). Tsutusumi hadn’t fought since his tragic December bout with Kazuki Anaguchi, and in some spots it seemed like he really needed to hurt Noolae, who took some sickening shots, especially to the body. Noodles was down twice in round 3, and showed incredible toughness to come out for round 4, but was dropped again early in the round and for a second time, with the referee deciding enough was enough rather than letting Noolae try to prolong his own beating.With this win it seems Tsutusmi is now set for a shot at WBA Bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5) [井上拓真], with the WBA title and revenge for a loss in the amateurs both on Tsutusmi’s mind.The main event was the much anticipated Super Flyweight unification bout between WBA "super" champion Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 16) [井岡一翔] and IBF champion Fernando Daniel Martinez (17-0, 9), and it was a bout that lived up to the expectations as both men put on a hell of a performance, giving us a FOTY contender. It was a bout that was brilliant for action and intensity, with some moments of drama, even if it lacked the knockdowns that we often associate with FOTY contenders.For the first 3 rounds the game plans were obvious, with Martinez starting fast, trying to break Ioka’s spirit with hard shots, with Ioka slowing the charge with some well placed body shots, that seemed to temporarily take the wind out of Martinez’s sails. By the end of those rounds however Martinez was mounting another charge, with big head shots.The fourth saw a real change in tactics, though a very short lived one, with Martinez getting on his toes early on and spending much of the round boxing and moving, using his jab and footwork really well whilst Ioka followed him around the ring. It was clear that Ioka’s foot work wasn’t as sharp as it had once been and he really struggled to cut the ring down during the round.In rounds 5 and 6 we saw some of Ioka’s best work as Ioka made Martinez back up several times with his body work having success and Martinez’s slowing down from the earlier stages of the fight. It seemed like Ioka was finally getting a toe hold in the bout, with ESPN giving him both rounds. Despite Ioka doing well in those rounds, his work was almost entirely focused on the body of Martinez, whilst Martinez, as he had earlier in the bout, focused mostly on the head, landing big shots up top. The Argentinian’s work rate had dropped, but he was still landing the more eye catching shots, and those continued in round 7, which was a close round with both having moments.Interestingly ESPN also gave Ioka round 8, though it seemed, by this point, Ioka no plan B, and was relying almost entirely on body body shots, whilst Martinez shows not only his aggressive side, with some huge shots up top, but also the ability to use his feet to create space, box and move, jab when he needed to. It was a more rounded performance from the visitor, than the local, who seemed to be awfully predictable, and unable to have the same effects as he had earlier on. That was until round 11, when he seemed to visibly hurt Martinez for the first time in quite a while. Martinez seemed to stand off, almost frozen, as he tried to catch his breath, but Ioka, either unaware or too tired to do anything about it, failed to punish Martinez, who got the chance to recover from the biggest scare he had had the entire fight. Despite being stopped in his tracks, Martinez ended the round with a flourish, bowing after the bell.With both likely feeling this was close they both put it all on the line in a thrilling 12th round that looked more like the first 3 than anything that had come in the middle portion of the bout. Both let it all fly, and this suited the bigger, stronger Martinez, who landed some great shots throughout the round. Ioka had moments, but it was hard to make his moments shine out given the number for Martinez. In the final seconds however Martinez, who had really given everything he could, was forced to hold on after a body shot, as the clock began to tick down. It was the first clinch of the fight and was done with less than 20 seconds left. In the dying seconds we did, finally, see a man hit the canvas, but it was a clear slip as Martinez went down on the bell.Given the great exchanges, and the fantastic back and forth it seemed the scores could be close, and in fact ESPN, airing the bout in Latin America, had it 116-112 to Martinez. We then went to the judges, who turned in scores of 116-112, 117-111 and a really atrocious 120-108, all in favour of Martinez.
With the win Martinez unifies the WBA and IBF titles, and seems likely to hunt the other champions, making it clear he wants to face WBO champion Kosei Tanaka next with the hope of fighting WBC champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in the future. As for Ioka, it’s hard to know what the future holds for him, but it did seem, like it has for a while, that father time is starting to get to him, and his power simply hasn’t carried up to 115lbs, which is his 4th weight.
