IBF world flyweight champion Fernando Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs) has pulled out of a rematch against former four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 15 KOs) due to a case of the flu for their previously scheduled bout. fight on December 31.
Rematch postponed
No word yet on when they plan to postpone the fight. Argentina’s Martin, 33, will obviously need time to recover from his illness, but it shouldn’t be too long under ideal circumstances.
That’s bad news for the fans, but perhaps a good thing for the 35-year-old Yoko, who was soundly defeated in their previous fight on July 7 in Tokyo, Japan.
Ioka will have to find it Fountain of Youth to defeat Martinez in the rematch. Martinez looked very old in his loss last July. He’s looked bad in recent fights over the last three years, but Martinez put the stamp on that with his one-sided victory last summer.
Results
117-111
120-108
116-112
Given the one-sided fight, it’s almost pointless for a rematch except for business. It wasn’t a competitive enough fight for a rematch, but from Yoko’s point of view, it’s understandable why he would want to at least try to avenge the loss. He had never been beaten like this before in his 15-year career.
However, his performances against Joshua Franco in 2022 and 2023 already indicated that Ioka is nearing the end of his career. Ioka looked terrible in both fights and was very lucky to escape without suffering a couple of losses.
“It was a good decision by the ‘Puma’ team not to let him fight with the flu patient.” We are waiting for a decision on the postponement or a decision in this regard,” said Salvador Rodriguez. Ksreacting to the news of IBF flyweight champion Fernando Martinez opting out of his rematch against Kazuto Yoka due to illness. Champion ‘Puma’ Martinez will not fight on December 31 due to the flu.
