Kazuto Ioka vs. Fernando Martínez dismissed due to illness

Fans were impatiently counting down the days until Kazuto Ioka faced Fernando Martinez on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo. However, Ioka’s Shisei Gym said on Monday that the Argentine WBA super flyweight champion was down with the flu, forcing them to cancel the highly-anticipated bout at the last minute.

Martinez had already shown signs of illness when he left a public training session last Thursday. He also missed Sunday’s signing ceremony, which raised alarm bells that something was seriously wrong. It’s a blow to Ioka, who was hungry for a comeback after Martinez defeated him by unanimous decision in the WBA-IBF unification bout in July.

Martinez reportedly relinquished his IBF belt, skipping a mandatory title defense to make this rematch happen.