An illness forces Fernando Martínez to withdraw from the Ioka rematch

IBF super flyweight world champion Fernando Martínez (17-0, 9 KOs) withdrew from his rematch against former four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 15 KOs) due to a case of influenza in his previously scheduled fight. fight on December 31.

Delayed revenge

It is not yet known when they plan to reschedule the fight. Obviously, the 33-year-old Argentine Martín will take time to recover from his illness, but under ideal circumstances it shouldn’t take long.

That’s bad news for fans, but perhaps a good thing for Ioka, 35, who was soundly defeated in his previous fight on July 7 in Tokyo, Japan.

Ioka will have to find the Fountain of Youth to defeat Martínez in the rematch. Martínez looked very old in his loss last July. He had looked poor in recent fights over the past three years, but Martinez put a stamp on that with his one-sided victory last summer.

the scores

117-111
120-108
116-112

Given the one-sided fight, a rematch other than business is almost useless. It wasn’t a competitive enough fight for a rematch, but from Ioka’s point of view, it’s understandable why he would want to at least try to avenge the loss. He had never before been defeated so heavily during his 15-year career.

However, his performances against Joshua Franco in 2022 and 2023 already indicated that Ioka was approaching the end of his career. Ioka looked terrible in both fights and was very lucky to escape without suffering a couple of losses.

“Good decision by the ‘Puma’ team to not let him fight with a case of influenza. We are waiting for a decision on the postponement or a decision to be made in this regard,” said Salvador Rodríguez in unknownreacting to the news that IBF super flyweight champion Fernando Martínez decided not to move forward with his rematch against Kazuto Ioka due to illness. “Champion ‘Puma’ Martínez will not fight on December 31 due to flu.”