International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Fernando ‘’Puma’’ Martinez of Argentina pounded out a 12-round unanimous decision over World Boxing Association super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka of Shisei Boxing Gym to unify the titles on July 7 in Tokyo.
After the hard-fought battle at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena, all three judges scored the fight for the 32-year-old Marinez (120-108, 117-111 and 116-112).
With the victory, Martinez retained his IBF title for the third time he won by decisioning Jerwin Ancajas of the Philippines in February 2022. Ioka failed in his second defense of the title he captured in June last year. There were no knockdowns in the fight.
Martinez came out strong from the opening bell as he threw wild hooks and uppercuts, most of which did not land accurately. But his active fighting style forced Ioka backpedal. The 35-year-old Ioka landed occasional left hooks to the body, momentarily stopping Martinez’s forward move.
Martinez, however, recovered quickly and swarmed all over Ioka again by throwing overhand rights and wild left hooks.
Aware he is behind on points, Ioka attempted to land counter rights and left hooks to the body. But Martinez, occasionally switching slightly to the left-handed stance. did not lose his forward momentum throughout the fight.
With the victory, Martinez, nicknamed Puma, extended his unbeaten streak to 17, including nine knockouts. For his part, Ioka fell to a 31-3-1 win-loss-draw tally with 16 KOs.
After the fight, Martinez said, ‘’I am extremely happy now. I want to thank everybody.’’
While Martinez showed an interest in having further title unification bouts with World Boxing Council champion Jesse ‘’Bam’’ Rodriguez of the United States and World Boxing Organization kingpin Kosei Tanaka off Soul Box Hatanaka Boxing Gym, he did not deny the possibility of the rematch with Ioka. ‘’It will all depend on the purse I will get, ‘’ Martinez added.
Ioka told reporters later, ‘’I think I did what I had to do by dedicating all my strength. I cannot say anything about my future at this point in time.’’
