To end 2024 we will see
Fernando Daniel Martinez (17-0, 9) rematching Japanese star Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 16) [井岡一翔], on New Year’s Eve, with Martinez looking to repeat his win over Ioka from this past summer and Ioka looking to avenge his defeat, move to 4-0 in rematches.Today, ahead of the bout, Martinez was expected to take part in a public work out, for the media. That however got cancelled at short notice with Martinez’s team requesting to cancel it, with his manager Rodrigo Calabrese holding a press conference explaining the situation. Calabrese stated that Martinez is suffering from a slight fever, with his body temperature sitting at 37.8°C, whilst his usual is 37°C.Calabrese explained that the cold weather in Japan has been an issue, especially given where he had been training was so warm, saying "He came to Japan from Miami, where the temperature is 26°C, and the cold weather caused him to have a slight fever. However, if he rests, there will be no problem. We will take him to the hospital now. It is cold, so we will try not to go outside as much as possible, and we have canceled the public training to be on the safe side. We are sorry."
Notably Martinez has been in Japan for almost a week now, arriving on December 20th, and has been training every day since December 21st. His weight is 2KG's above the limit, with Calabrese suggesting that was to help protect him from the cold, and that losing it in time for the weigh in won't be an issue.
Interestingly Martinez has himself told the Japanese press that he will be hunting a KO in the rematch, and will be more aggressive than he was in the first meeting with Ioka.
