At a news conference today, Kazuto Ioka announced that he would be facing WBA junior bantamweight titleholder Fernando Martinez in a rematch at Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan on May 11.

The two fought last July, on that occasion, Ioka held the WBA title and Martinez the IBF belt. The two fought each other to a standstill in an excellent fight and the Argentine fighter was awarded a 12-round unanimous decision.

It was decided they'd rematch on December 31, but Martinez was sick, and the fight was called off at the 11th hour. To make the rematch Martinez had to vacate the IBF title because of mandatory commitments.

It looked for a period of time as though the two would then go their separate ways with Martinez linked with a fight with Ring/ WBC champion Jesse Rodriguez before Ioka and Martinez were able to broker a deal for the return.

"Regarding the rematch with Martinez, I believe it is my duty," Ioka told The Ring. "After losing on July 7th and with the New Year’s Eve fight being postponed, it has finally been set for May 11th, and my determination for revenge has grown even stronger.

"I am committed to winning this rematch and moving forward."

In the co-feature, rising junior lightweight Hayato Tsutsumi (6-0, 3 knockouts) will face an as yet unknown opponent. Also scheduled to appear are highly-touted flyweight Daiya Kira (2-0, 2 KOs) and the debut of amateur standout Reito Tsutsumi.

Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs), rated at No. 1 by The Ring at junior bantamweight, was a standout amateur and represented his home country of Argentina all over the world. Martinez appeared in the World Series of Boxing and the 2016 Olympics before turning professional in 2017. He won his first nine fights, all in Argentina, before venturing to South Africa to stop Athenkosi Dumezweni (TKO 11).

The 33-year-old was largely unknown until he upset Jerwin Ancajas (UD 12) to win the IBF title and repeated the trick in his first defense and then stopped another Filipino Jade Bornea (TKO 11). Impressively unified with WBA ruler Kazuto Ioka (UD 12) in Japan.

Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs), rated at No. 3 by The Ring at junior bantamweight, claimed titles at strawweight and junior flyweight. He lost for the first time to IBF flyweight titleholder Amnat Ruenroeng (SD 12). Unperturbed, the Japanese star rebounded to best Juan Carlos Raveco (MD 12) to win the WBA belt in that division. He made five defenses, including a rematch victory over Raveco (TKO 11), then shockingly retired from the sport in 2017.

However, following a 17-month layoff, Ioka returned at junior bantamweight in search of more glory. He lost a WBO title bout to Donnie Nietes (SD 12) but stopped Aston Palicte (TKO 10) for the very same belt after Nietes vacated. The four-weight world titleholder made six successful defenses, notably stopping Kosei Tanaka (TKO 8) before dominating Nietes (UD 12) in a rematch.

He then looked to unify with WBA titlist Joshua Franco but had to settle for a draw. Ioka, 36, decided to vacate his title instead of facing his mandatory to pursue a rematch with Franco and impressively won a 12-round unanimous decision. Unable to secure a unification with Estrada, he had to settle for a routine defense before dropping his title to the hard-charging Martinez (UD 12).