Both Kazuto Ioka and Joshua Franco kept hold of their super flyweight titles on New Years Eve in Japan, as the two couldn’t be split in a majority draw.
Ioka (29-2-1, KO15) came into the contest at Ota-City General Gymnasium as the WBO champion, having won the vacant belt in June 2019 with a tenth round stoppage of Aston Palicte, and he had defended four times, the most recent a rematch points win against Donnie Nietes in July. Franco (18-1-3, KO8) won his WBA belt in June 2020, taking a tight decision against Andrew Moloney, and the pair fought twice more, one a no contest and the last one in August last year, which Franco won more handily on the scorecards.
It was high-octane stuff, with both men continuously punching, with WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada watching on from ringside. Ioka was often found punching with his back to the ropes, while Franco was physically the stronger fighter, and the Texan was largely unfazed when Ioka opened up in the several exchanges during the contest.
Franco did pile on the pressure in the later rounds, but Ioka was more than a match for him, and as the fight went to the scorecards, it seemed that Franco had done just enough for victory.
🇯🇵 DRAW!
🥊 No unified champion is crowned as Ioka and @JoshuaFranco_ battle to a majority draw in Japan
📝 115-113 (Franco), 114-114, 114-114#IokaFranco pic.twitter.com/1tjnJkMAav
— BOXRAW (@BOXRAW) December 31, 2022
In the end, a draw was possibly a fair reflection, as two scorecards of 114-114 made the third tally of 115-113 in Franco’s favour redundant. The pair will likely now rematch.
On the undercard, Hayato Tsutsumi (2-0, KO0) took an eight round points win at featherweight against Pete Apolinar (16-4, KO10) by scores of 80-71 (twice) and 79-72.
Kai Watanabe (9-0-1, KO5) stopped Ryo Nakai (5-2-1, KO2) in the second round of their super featherweight contest, and at featherweight, Ryuto Owan (10-1, KO6) took an eight round points win against Robin Langres (11-5, KO4) by three scores of 80-69.
At super flyweight, Satsuma Ito (2-0, KO1) stopped Wassana Kamdee (6-8, KO5) in the fourth of their six rounder, and at super welterweight, Taiga Ito (5-3-1, KO1) halted Kentaro Miyamoto (4-4, KO2) inside a round.
Super bantamweight Kantaro Nakanishi (4-1-1, KO0) outscored Akira Nakashima (2-5, KO1) over four, and Kazuki Ogiwara (2-1, KO2) stopped Ayato Mochizuki (1-1, KO0) in a round at lightweight.
