Kazuto Ioka Looking to Unify Following Dominant Win Over Josber Perez
World championship boxing for 2023 capped off at the Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16 KOs) put the WBA junior bantamweight title on the line against Josber Perez (20-4, 18 KOs).
A four-division world champion, Ioka is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the sport. Many observers believe he’s a future Hall of Fame inductee. A star and living legend in his homeland, the 34-year-old was adamant about upholding the recent tradition of a reigning Japanese world champion defending the title on New Year’s Eve. He faced Perez, a hard-hitting challenger who was engaging in his second world title contest.
NO MESSING AROUND
Usually a slow starter, Ioka had the engine revving early, as he was landing with left hooks on the inside and combinations to the head. Both men stood toe-to-toe in the early rounds, but the defending champion was getting the better of the action as Ioka repeatedly caught Perez with straight right hands to the head.
In round five, you could see the challenger was starting to wilt. With less than thirty seconds to go in that round, a salvo of punches from Ioka put Perez down on one knee. Towards the end of the bell in that round, Perez went down for a second time, courtesy of another right hand.
After Ioka buzzed him again late in the sixth, he went for the finish in round seven. A bombardment of punches put Perez down for a third time with thirty seconds to go in the round. This time, the challenger stayed down for the count.
Overall, this was a dominating performance for Ioka. In 2024, he wants to become a unified champion and hopes to land a unification with WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada.
