Illness forces Fernando Martínez to withdraw from the Ioka rematch

IBF world super flyweight champion Fernando Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs) has pulled out of his rematch against former four-division world champion Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 15 KOs) in due to a case of the flu for its previously scheduled. fight on December 31st.

Revenge delayed

It is not yet known when they plan to reschedule the fight. Argentina’s Martín, 33, will obviously need time to recover from his illness, but it shouldn’t take too long under ideal circumstances.

That’s bad news for the fans, but perhaps a good thing for the 35-year-old Ioka, 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. Martinez looked very old in his loss last July. He had been poor in recent fights over the past three years, but Martinez put a stamp on it with his one-sided victory last summer.

The scores

117-111
120-108
116-112

Given the one-sided fight, it makes almost no sense for a non-business rematch. 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 been hit so hard in his 15-year career.

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

“Good decision by the ‘Puma’ team not to let him fight with a case of the flu. We are waiting for a decision on the postponement or a decision to be made about it,” said Salvador Rodríguez Xreacting to the news of IBF super flyweight champion Fernando Martínez choosing not to go ahead with his rematch against Kazuto Ioka due to illness. “Champion ‘Puma’ Martinez will not fight Dec. 31 due to flu”.