Boxing

Fernando Martinez Survives Knockdown, Beats Kazuto Ioka In Rematch

Fernando Martinez retains his WBA junior-bantamweight title against Kazuto Ioka in their long-awaited rematch.
Johan Alyas Blanco|
Fernando Martinez (left) hits Kazuto Ioka (right) with a powerful left uppercut.
Fernando Martinez (left) hits Kazuto Ioka (right) with a powerful left uppercut. | IMAGO / AFLOSPORT

It was a much more difficult fight than the first encounter, but Fernando Martinez gets up off the canvas to defeat Kazuto Ioka in their rematch.

Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) retains his WBA junior-bantamweight title on Sunday, beating Ioka (31-4-1, 16 KOs) by unanimous decision. Once again, Martinez goes into enemy territory to silence the crowd. This was also "Puma's" first defense of his 115 lbs belt.

The scorecards read 114-113, 115-112, 117-110, all for Martinez. The fight was streamed live on Abema TV in Japan.

The rematch took place at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. The sequel was originally scheduled to take place on New Year's Eve, but Martinez withdrew just hours before the weigh-in due to illness.

This was both boxers first fight since their first encounter, which "Pumita" shocked the world, winning by unanimous decision on July 7th, 2024, unifying the WBA and IBF titles. In October, Martinez had relinquished the IBF belt, where he was ordered to defend against mandatory challenger Willibaldo Garcia.

The delay to get to the rematch was well worth the wait.

Just like the first bout, Martinez pushed to the pace to establish the tone early in the fight. Ioka, having gone through this for 12 rounds already, withstood the pressure and began to dig to the body every time "Pumita" opened up.

Throughout the first few rounds, the 36-year-old from Osaka bobbed and weave through the champion's aggression to place clean and clear body shots with pinpoint accuracy. While Martinez was having some success, he was loading up his punches more often than not, letting Ioka telegraph easily.

Despite that, the 33-year-old from Argentina outworked Ioka, using his signature pressure to push him back whenever engaging and making the fight visually appealing in his favor. Martinez was focused on landing on power punches to the body and head, whereas Ioka was primarily counterpunching and changing levels.

There was little to separate the two boxers towards the middle of the fight. It was Martinez's high pace and physicality vs. Ioka's efficient pure boxing.

The tempo of the bout did not let up, with both boxers in the phone booth or front-and-center with one another. Towards the second half of the fight,"Pumita" began mixing up his combos, implementing a lot of jabs and uppercuts on the inside. The champion was also finding success countering with a check-left hook, as Ioka tried to go to the body.

Momentum drastically changed in the 10th round, when Ioka landed a flush left hook to Martinez's chin, who was staggered by the shot. An ensuing right hand and left hook would result in "Pumita" falling to the canvas, resulting in a knockdown.

After the knockdown, Martinez made to push the pace once again, determined to regain the momentum and deliver his furious offense. Ioka never was never deterred down the final stretch, but the workmanlike pace of "Pumita" seemed to be the "X" factor in this fight.

Martinez made the first defense of the WBA junior-bantamweight title, while Ioka was left dejected in the ring when the scores were read.

With Martinez holding the WBA title and him vacating the IBF belt, there's two other champions in the division. Jesse "Bam Rodriguez holds the WBC and Ring Magazine titles, while Phumelele Cafu is the WBO champion. Those two are set to fight in a unification bout on July 19th. And depending on the victor in that fight, "Pumita" could be himself in line for another lucrative unification bout.

As for Ioka, the question is whether or not it's time to call it a career. He was Japan’s first-ever male boxer to win major titles in four weight divisions and is arguably a first-ballot hall of famer. But at 36-years-old, many fans wonder if this past Sunday will be the very last time we see the legend back in the ring.

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Johan Alyas Blanco
JOHAN ALYAS BLANCO

Johan Alyas Blanco is a writer for KO On SI. Before joining in March 2025, he worked as a News Producer in Tallahassee and Orlando. He also works for several fight promotions in boxing and MMA, working on social media content. When he’s not writing, Alyas covers boxing on his own YouTube channel, The Split Decision. Blanco has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from UCF, with a minor in sports business management. Alyas has interviewed several big names in combat sports, including Jorge Masvidal, Edgar Berlanga and Brian Norman Jr. His goal is to bring boxing back to prominence.

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