Fernando Martínez defeats Kazuto Ioka in Japan to unify belts in historic victory for Argentine boxing
By Gabriel F. Cordero
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Jul 2024
Undefeated Argentinian sensation Fernando Martínez (17-0, 9 KOs) unified the WBA and IBF super flyweight belts by putting up a grueling battle with the skilled legendary Japanese four-time champion and a candidate for the Canastota International Hall of Fame, Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs) winning a historic unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111 and 120-108) in twelve rounds in a great fight on Sunday, July 7 at the legendary iconic Ryogoku Kokugikan, the sumo gym in Tokyo, Japan.
Martínez, 32, was more aggressive, while Ioka, 35, was more technical, with counterattacks and body shots. The Argentine's abundant resistance was astonishing, as he withstood Ioka's persistent body bombardments and responded furiously with attacks from above. They continued to trade solid blows from start to finish and completely entertained the audience.
Martínez could have an immediate rematch with Kazuto Ioka and stated that he wants to face Jesse 'Bam' Rodríguez in another unification fight.
Martínez, a resident of the neighborhood of the iconic Boca Juniors soccer team, entered the Ryogoku Kokugikan, with the blue and yellow flags of the Argentine Xeneixe along with those of Argentina and made history by being the fourth Argentine boxer to win a world boxing championship in Japan by joining legends: Pascual Perez, Horacio Accavallo and Nicolino Locche and also becoming only the fourth Argentine boxer to be a unified world champion along with other legends such as: Carlos Monzón, Hugo Corro and Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez.
As for the score of 120-108 (The 12 rounds for Martínez) of the American judge Edward Hernandez with about 709 professional boxing matches, it is respected but at the same time it again leaves doubt and questions about the judges' scores and even more so when the other two saw 8 rounds for Martinez and 4 for Ioka (Jean Pierre Van Imschoot of Belgium) 9 Martinez and 3 Ioka (Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa).
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