This past Sunday, we saw Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue engage in a real firefight with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, this in Las Vegas, and this Sunday in Tokyo, Japan, fans will see another potential thriller from the smaller guys of the sport.
In their eagerly anticipated return fight, junior bantamweights Fernando Daniel Martinez and Kazuto Ioka will run it back, with the WBA title on the line. It was back in July when Argentine warrior Martinez defeated Japan’s Ioka, this in a great action fight that was unfortunately spoilt some by crazy scoring; one judge managing to hand in a 120-108 card in favour of new champ Martinez.
Martinez deserved the win, but it was a much closer fight than that unfathomable card would have you believe, and the fight was closer than the 117-111 card that was also turned in, this after both men had given their all in a tough, hard, gruelling fight. Now, with, we hope, much more accurate scoring from the judges should it be needed, we will see if it will be a case of repeat or revenge.
Martinez, unbeaten at 17-0(9), to Ioka’s 31-3-1(16), is the younger man by three years at age 33 to Ioka’s 36, and he has significantly less miles on the clock than does his rival. If Ioka, who has been fighting since back in 2009, is to get the revenge win he will really have to roll back the years and produce a special performance. But Ioka is a great fighter, and maybe he can do it. Also, both men have had a good rest since the last fight of 10 months ago.
Fighting at home didn’t help Ioka in the July fight, and it may not do so here. This one looks like being another punishing fight for both men. It could even prove to be Ioka’s last fight should he come up short again. Basically, everything is on the line here for Ioka, a superb fighter who has been operating at world title level since 2014.
If he can get the revenge win on Sunday, who knows, maybe we could see the trilogy between Ioka and Martinez. There was a lot of punching going on in the July fight and it seems this will be the case again in the return. Martinez has to be the pick to get the win here, simply due to his youth and less wear and tear on his part. But Ioka won’t go quietly, and it absolutely would not be a shock if the older man did manage to pull it off this time.
Look for another great fight on Sunday.