The final title fight of 2024 will move forward, even after a brief and minor scare.

Fernando Martinez was forced to cancel an open media workout in Tokyo after coming down with a fever. The reigning WBA 115-pound titlist is due to rematch former four-division titlist Kazuto Ioka on Dec. 31 at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

Argentina’s Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs) and Japan’s Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs) are rated No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, at junior bantamweight by The Ring. The division’s champion is Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs).

Fight week is already underway in Tokyo, but Martinez had to shut down his media commitment after he woke up on Thursday with a 100-degree temperature.

Multiple team members informed The Ring that he is expected to recover sooner than later and this his year-end sequel with Ioka will move forward as planned.

The additional day of rest will give the visiting Argentinean boxer time to come in at full strength for Sunday’s final press conference and Monday’s official pre-fight weigh-in.

If nothing else, it adds another footnote to the developing rivalry.

Martinez defeated Ioka via unanimous decision in their terrific July 6 unification bout, whose action was far better than the final scorecards at Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo. Their Fight of the Year contender in the ring saw Martinez prevail by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and a laughable 120-108.

With the win, Martinez claimed Ioka’s WBA title and defended his IBF belt for the third time.

As previously reported by The Ring, the two agreed to terms in late August for a New Year’s Eve rematch. It meant two things for Martinez: once again hitting the road; and ending his stay of more than two-and-a-half years as the IBF 115-pound titleholder.

Martinez was due to defend against mandatory challenger Willibaldo Garcia (22-5-2, 13 KOs). The far more lucrative rematch with Ioka made it a no-brainer to abandon the IBF belt, and just have the WBA title at stake.

Mexico’s Garcia recently challenged for the IBF belt but fought to a twelve-round draw with countryman Rene Calixto in their instant classic on Dec. 20 in Shizuoka, Japan. The belt remained vacant as a result.

Martinez won the IBF belt in a Feb. 2022 unanimous decision over Jerwin Ancajas. He repeated the feat in far more dominant fashion later that October. Martinez then defeated Jade Bornea via knockout for his lone fight of 2023.

Ioka can relate to parting with a major title in favor of a far more financially rewarding rematch. Such a decision led to his WBA title win at this weight.

Japan’s first-ever four-division titlist was forced to give up the WBO title to instead proceed with a June 2023 rematch against Joshua Franco. The two fought to a majority decision draw in their 2022 New Year's Eve WBA/WBO unification bout in Tokyo. Ioka retained his WBO belt while Franco kept the WBA title.

Their rematch saw Ioka defeat an overweight Franco to win the WBA belt, which he defended once. His reign ended in the defeat to Martinez, though that belt will be the only one at stake in December.

The loss to Martinez snapped a nine-fight unbeaten streak for Ioka. He dropped a split decision to Donnie Nietes in their 2018 New Year’s Eve clash for the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title. Nietes only held the belt for two months before he was relieved for failure to defend against Aston Palicte, whom Ioka stopped in the tenth round of their June 2019 title fight.

Ioka made six successful defenses of the WBO belt—including a July 2022 revenge win over Nietes via unanimous decision—before he vacated prior to the second Franco fight.

Tuesday will mark Ioka’s thirteenth New Year’s Eve headliner, a boxing tradition in Japan which he launched during his first year as a major titleholder in 2011. The future Hall of Famer is 10-1-1 (7 KOs) on the celebratory date.