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Date: June 24, 2023
Venue: Ota-City General Gymnasium, Japan

This fight will happen on the weekend and what interest to make a thread about this is that their last fight ended in a majority draw which i think Franco could have won the fight but since it happens in Japan, judges might be a little bias of course as we all know that Japan is not friendly to outsiders when it comes to decision.

Below odds is almost even so this is an interesting fight to watch.

What's your thoughts about this fight guys?

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/06/20/H60MZ.jpeg

https://www.boxingscene.com/kazuto-ioka-vs-joshua-franco-rematch-official-june-24-tokyo--174132

Since the fight will be held in Japan, I will be rooting for the Japanese fighter to win. Here are my reasons:

There may be a chance that the judges could be biased towards their fellow countryman.
Joshua Franco is not known for his knockout power, having only recorded 8 knockouts in his 18 wins.

Despite the advantages I mentioned above, the odds for Kazuto Ioka are quite attractive.

And yet Franco's camp still agreed to fight in Japan with the same opponent and the same venue, his camp could have opted to fight on neutral ground, but I guess Franco's team couldn't do that because of money, because we all know Japanese promoters will spend just to hold the fight in their turf since this is a rematch and both fighters want to settle the score I'm expecting a lot of action, this is how you settle a draw it should be dominated by one fighter.

Ioka winning is a big possibility since the fight will be held in Japan and chances are that the fate of this fight will be in the hands of the judges since both boxers are not knockout artist.

Franco in an interview has said that he will do his best so that this fight will not go the distance and again be frustrated with the judges but i doubt he can do that as Ioka is one hell of fighter to crack like to what we have seen when he fight with Nietes.

But i'm more inclined to bet for Franco here because talent-wise, the latter is a little superior than Ioka and he is now 34 years old while Franco is just 27 years of age, that might be a factor also.

Franco already knows that if he cannot knock out Kazuto, he cannot expect to win. It's better to be realistic in that regard, as it will motivate him to train hard and become a knockout artist. In fact, I've read an article stating that Japan and Australia are considered the worst countries to host boxing matches, as the judges' decisions are often unfair.

Good luck, though! I hope Franco takes this fight seriously and works even harder to secure a victory. You see, in Japan, it's difficult to expect a win unless you are clearly the superior boxer, which makes it a challenging task for Franco to defeat the hometown favorite.

With this, it's really necessary for Franco to win by KO.

But we should give credit to Joshua Franco as well because in their first encounter, he managed to come on par with Kazuto's which resulted into a draw. Do note that this 2nd fight or rematch is on the same place, Kazuto's backyard yet Franco is not showing any signs of fear or anything that could give an advantage towards the Japanese boxer.

Although, when it comes to adjustments, I'd give my vote to Ioka as he's the one who have more experiences in this industry and he's quite faced a lot of good boxers already.

Yeah, with his experience, he can use that to win this fight. That's why bookies are giving them a 50/50 chance, as evidenced by the previously released odds. This fight will likely go the full 12 rounds, unless one of them significantly improves. However, judging by their KO rate, it's quite low, so we can't expect a knockout.

I will also go with Franco here, for me he has the talent to beat the Japanese Ioka as Ioka is somewhat old and Franco might be just peaking and hitting his prime years right now.

First fight was really entertaining for us, and it went into a draw. And I thin Franco already learn his lessons on that fight. And although he was the busier fighter, the judges didn't see his power. So for sure he will adjust on this second fight and try to take the belt from Ioka.

Odds are still very close though, so we might expect the fight could be similar to the first one. I can't remember if I watch the first though, so I have to check whether Franco could have won the first fight since he has the volume puncher or Ioka accuracy that really impressed the judges but we can't discount the fact that this could be a biased scoring. And it's good that the Japanese gives Franco a rematch to see who is going to be the WBA superfly once and for all. Hopefully though, the judges in the the rematch should be fair and firm and no more hometown decision or at least try to save Ioka by another draw again.

This is the highlight of their first fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXMaJq64C6o both fighters have the same style, they love to engage and mix it up the kind of fight that you want to see in a boxing match,  the match is very close going to the championship rounds and based on the highlights it was Franco dominating the championship rounds, he should have won the fight because he is the one more impressive in the last two rounds.

But because the early rounds are close the judges to please the host country and the crowd made it a majority draw, I'm sure Franco knows that he needs to totally dominate the fight or knock out Ioka to win this rematch we'll just hope the judges will be fair this time the winner should deserve the title.

I didn't know it was already a rematch. I watched the highlights, and now I can say that both fighters have a chance to win. However, the 'home court' advantage makes it likely that Kazuto Ioka will have the upper hand again. So, Joshua Franco is right - he needs to look for a knockout if he wants to ensure a win.

Although I voted for Ioka, I do enjoy seeing the visitor win the fight. :)

After we witnessed how it turned out for Casimero when he fought that Japanese guy in their country, this will likely be the same scenario as that because they are not afraid anymore to give an advantage to their fellow countrymen as long as they have the privilege to do so. Franco needs to work hard in his training because even a clear knockout will result in disqualification if he hits his opponent close to the not permissible part. He needs to put pressure and give his best in throwing multiple punches since his knockout percentage is not well; he will probably win by unanimous decision if he shows them domination throughout the rounds.

I don't think Franco has a good chance to knockout Ioka because latest Franco fights, he was rarely win via KO, so I would expect this fight will go into decision. Franco had show a good performance in the previous match, but I think Ioka should be win in the rematch due to biased judges.

If the fight is close and it should be draw, Ioka will win. If Franco is more dominating, but it's not completely dominating, the fight will be draw.

It's like Ioka has 60% chance to win, while Franco only has 40%.

Yes, Franco doesn't have the knockout power, what his strategy or what he does is to overwhelm his opponents with a lot of punch. Not necessarily with power, but just touching them to look good at the judges. But it was a different set of eyes, and although he throws a lot of punch, it was not enough for them to award him the win.


As per the current odds though, Franco is the slight favorite, at 1.82, Ioka at 1.96.

So maybe this is going to be another close fight in the book and judges will have to do their job here.

I'm not really sure who you describing here, Casimero, if you are referring to Akaho, he is a Japanese, but the fight happens in South Korea though.

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I have given Franco the first fight, yes, it's very close but I guess the sheer volume alone could have tip the scale for him. But nevertheless, the Japanese judges are not going to award him the win as Ioka is one of their respected champion. Unless Franco is the clear winner or wins by knockout, then he could have the belt. But Ioka is very tough and that's why he is willing for a rematch here.

Let's just rule out the homecourt advantage this time because if that's indeed a real thing between their fight, then Kazuto it's already safe to say that Ioka was already victorious in their first fight but that wasn't really the case because the visitor, Franco, is giving him enough struggles to lose that advantage and even brought the fight into a draw.

Franco should have the initiative and be the aggressor just like he did in their first fight, this is the disadvantage of fighting a champion on his own turf, you have to take the crown decisively, and if the fight is too close the judges will go for the home favorite.
Franco has no choice but to go all out, and go for knock out I'm sure he is prepare for this and its going to be a war between the two as both fighters have the same style and the same motivation to win the match.

He really did his best to be the aggressor in this fight, that's why the volume is in his side. Just to be fair though and we want it to be clear, even if the fight is made in Japan, the judges who score it are not Japanese, (but maybe they could have been sway to favor the Japanese, we don't know).

Scores were 114-114 and 114-114 from two of the three, with the third scoring it 115-113 for Franco.

It is also noted that Franco weight is over the limit


https://www.boxingscene.com/joshua-franco-still-over-115-pound-limit-wba-title-stake-only-kazuto-ioka-rematch--175600

Although it's hard for Joshua Franco to win, I voted for him because I want to see a trilogy.

The first fight was very close; either boxer could have won. But I'm sure Joshua Franco has worked hard for this fight to reclaim himself. Last time, I believe it went to the judges' scorecards, but this time, I'm hoping to see a knockout.

Bad news for Franco's fans here as he didn't make the weight and might be the cause of his defeat. I don't what will be the sanction but definitely, there will be, like wearing of thick gloves or whatever. The good thing is that there is no movement in the betting odds thus far so this also great news for those who will bet for Ioka.

Personally, i changed my mind and will now bet for the Japanese as the percentage of him winning got higher with this news of Franco not making the weight.

What would be the penalty for him not making weight? Can he still make the fight happen? I was thinking if a boxer does not make it to the weigh-in, that would result in disqualification. Maybe my knowledge is not correct.

I mean, there could be but I think trilogy is the least thing that we can somehow expect from these two because the outcome of their first match was a draw and that is also why we are here now discussing for their upcoming rematch. In most cases, the winner of this fight will choose to proceed towards the next chapter especially if there was no clause involved because from their view, there's no need for a trilogy because they have won already.

Depends on the situation because there are some cases that a boxer will be given at least a few couple of hours to finalize their weight and eventually, they are able sunk their body according to the needed weight and will able to continue the fight.

But in some cases, boxer's aren't given the same chance and will just have to fight each other for the sake of their fan bases that paid to watch them especially if they were the finale. Just like what happened to Shakur Stevenson before he climbed the next weight class.

6.7 pounds is so hard to put out with limited time but they agreed to continue the fight with Ioka the only one eligible to win the title, but Franco will have a slight advantage because of the added weight, it somewhat lessens the motivation for a fighter that has an excess weight and not eligible for the title anymore, 

Here is what his camp says
it would have been great if Franco could still reach the weight limit but I doubt it will have consequences if they force it, so better continue just let it be and concentrate on the fight.

Yes, he can still fight against Ioka, but he has been stripped of his belt already. And then the winner fighting the mandatory, another Japanese in Junto Nakatani. According to the reports, their is some miscommunication with regards to the fight and they camp of Franco was told that the fight might not push through.

Good thing though is the Ioka didn't postponed the fight and said that he is in the best shape of his life, so they might as well fight. And all advantage is on him here, so i do agree if you will shift your bet for the Japanese now.

His body just shuts down, and so no more losing of that extra poundage on his body in 24 hours because it could be detrimental to his health and maybe can't fight that well if they force his body to go 115 lbs.

At least Ioka go with it, he doesn't want the fight not happening because he said that he has work very very hard because he badly wanted to win. So Franco is strip of the belt already but Ioka still has a chance to get that and put in his waist if he wins this fight.

The obvious penalty for him not making weight is that he was stripped of his WBA belt, other than that i don't have any knowledge but there is no news yet that the fight will be cancelled because of Franco's disqualification. If Team Franco will do their best to trim the excess weight which is 6 pounds, that would be disastrous for him.

I have already put my bet, Ioka by decision @2.70, hope this fight will push through.

Goodluck on your bet, adding extra weight might work both ways though,

a) the added weight might help Franco specially in the power division and maybe he can withstand the power punches of Ioka in return. But maybe if the fight goes to distance he might tire and not put the volume that he wanted against the accuracy of Ioka.

b) the added weight will make him sloppy in this fight as he is not accustomed to as the last fight was at 115 lbs.

So we will see which scenario will likely take shape in the fight.

The match will not be as exciting compared to if both fighters have a crack at the title but nevertheless, the fight will continue with Ioka as the one with a chance to win the title but still good to watch as both fighters are not backing out and they are always ready to engage.

For a live feed of the fight here it is, just turn off the volume because of the noise because the video comes straight from a gym and there's also a dog barking in the background  :D hope they can keep the feed alive until the announcement of the winner.

https://www.facebook.com/Oraisrey/videos/1267755377201921

Thanks,.

Congratulations to Kazuto Ioka! I don't understand what they are saying, but judging by how the fight unfolded, I believe Kazuto Ioka won via unanimous decision.

Don't know the real score on how they treat the 6 lbs overweight but it worked on the disadvantage of Franco. He seems slow tonight and those body shots by Ioka might have contributed to it but in fairness to Ioka, he never backed down on the bigger Franco, he weighs bantamweight tonight but still the Japanese emerged as the winner, my speculation that Ioka will win because Franco is not in condition paid off hehe.

Congrats to those who bet for Ioka and thanks to robelneo for the link of the fight.

Yes, Kazuto won via a unanimous decision over Franco 116-112 twice, 115-113, Franco is very slow and obviously, Ioka is dominating the fight, the additional weight for Franco did not work for Franco's advantage, I guess this settle the fight, Joshua can move up as he cannot keep up making the super flyweight anymore.

Congratulation to Ioka and those who bet on him.

Man! I don't know if I lost this fight or not because I surely thought that this fight will happen tomorrow and not tonight, I could've rode the wave and bet in-favor of Kazuto Ioka as I know he will have the fight in his favor despite the draw on their first encounter.

Anyway, congratulations to all the bettors who bet in-favor of Kazuto Ioka.

I wasn't able to ride on Ioka for a decision win, nevertheless congrats to those who won because it was a very attractive odd.

No excuses for Franco losing this one, maybe he can attribute it to his extra weight. But we should give credit to the Japanese here. He really wanted to get this win and so he pushes for the fight despite the issues with the weight.

And now he will have to face either another Japanese in Nakatani or the winner of the Martinez vs Jade Bornea for the IBF belt and unification.

Looking at the score, it's not as dominating though, and it seems that Ioka really shows a lot in this fight. And it's true the additional weight didn't work and on the contrary it might have hamper his performance as he was not throwing the volume that we used to see him at this weight class.

And maybe Franco will go up in weight as high as super bantamweight because he clock in at almost 122 lbs.

That is going to be a big jump for him and that weight class is pretty much stack up at this point.

So we found our answer already, it's the second scenario, the added weight didn't bring any significant advantage to Joshua and on the contrary as I have said, he become sloppy fighting Kazuto.

And again good that you have change your mind and bet for Ioka, we thought that Franco could have learn from his past mistakes, but then again, as others boxers experiencing weight issues, in the end it's not going to end very well for them.

The rivalry is now over. Franco can't blame the judges anymore because it's very clear that he was not able to prepare for the fight. It has become a one-sided fight that ended in the 12th round, so Franco has to move up as he struggles to meet the weight requirements of his current division.

What a revenge by Ioka after the first match was ended in draw, now he proof himself if he's better than Franco. Ioka clearly beat Franco, so the judges already correct for scoring favor on Ioka's side and people wouldn't discuss the scorecard is robbed etc.

I think Ioka will have couple of warm up fight before he will fight with Fernando Martinez or Junto Nakatani, Estrada is become the last boss in super flyweight division.

A significant change has occurred. Following a majority draw result in their first fight, Ioka has proven in the second fight that he can indeed defeat Franco. Despite the outcome, the fans were not entertained because we were expecting a close fight, considering their previous encounter. However, it was unexpected to see Franco appear sluggish, with Ioka treating him like a punching bag.

It was definitely a tough decision for Kazuto Ioka because he had to vacate his WBO belt and refused a fight against Nakatani just to secure a 2nd fight against Joshua Franco as he cannot just move on from that draw because he knew right from the start that the fight should've belonged to him but the judges favored a draw because Franco showed some impressive moves in the later rounds hence the draw.

Now that he finished his business with Franco, I bet he's already eager to fight Junto Nakatani so that he can get that WBO belt that was once belonged to him.

Yeah, Ioka got that fight that he really wanted, he relinquished his WBO belt in favor of his compatriot just for this rematch to happen and their hard work paid off.

For Franco, i think he need to move up in weight in his future fight as Superflyweight for him is too.

I don't think that their will be a unification fight between Ioka and Nakatani because seldom we can see two Japanese fighters fight for a unification, i might be wrong but that is my observation.

Locking this thread now and as usual thanks for your contributions for this thread to be alive and also congrats to those who be on Ioka to win this belt on his own backyard.