Four-weight world champion Kazuto Ioka will make his bantamweight debut in a traditional year-end appearance as he targets success within a 118-pound division that has lost now former Ring, unified champion Junto Nakatani to junior featherweight in recent months.

Fernando 'Puma' Martinez survived a knockdown to retain his WBA junior-bantamweight title against a devastated Kazuto Ioka in their long-awaited rematch at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. The scores read 114-113, 115-112, 117-110 all in favour of Martinez, and the fight was streamed live on Abema TV in Japan.

Ioka, rated at No. 3 by The Ring at junior bantamweight, believes the extended wait will be worthwhile on fight night.

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.

There is a very good chance that Fernando Martinez and Kazuto Ioka will have to head in separate directions for at least their first fight of the new year.

The Ring has confirmed that Fernando ‘Pumita’ Martinez was forced to withdraw from planned junior bantamweight title defense against Kazuto Ioka. A battle with the flu was too much for Martinez to overcome, which prompted event handlers to cancel the New Year’s Eve clash.

Fernando Martinez’s decision to move forward with a rematch against Kazuto Ioka resulted in the end of his IBF title reign. His WBA 115-pound belt is now at risk even before he makes it into the ring.

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.