Nietes vs Ioka Possible For December

The SuperFly 4 card could already be shaping up.


On September 8, Donnie Nietes and Kazuto Ioka fought on separate bouts as part of the Super Flyweight 3 card.

Nietes was victim to a controversial draw against Aston Palicte for the vacant WBO Super-Flyweight title. Meanwhile, Ioka won in impressive fashion over McWilliams Arroyo.
3KingsBoxing has now learned there are formative steps taking place for Nietes and Ioka to fight each other in December.

According to sources in Japan, plans are being made for Ioka to battle Nietes at the end of this year. To top it off, the match would be for the vacant WBO Super-Flyweight title.

A Nietes – Ioka bout would make sense for multiple reasons. First, Arroyo was the WBO’s number 3 at 115 lbs when Ioka defeated him. This win would assure him a high ranking by the WBO; presumably countering his draw with Palicte this past weekend. Secondly, assuming this bout takes place, the winner would become a four-time, four-division world champion. Finally, a battle between the two would accomplish each fighter’s desires of a big-money fight at 115 lbs.

Japan usually has multiple boxing cards at the end of the year. There is already an event scheduled to take place at the Kyokugen Hall in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve. Given that Ioka has no issue getting a license from the Japanese Boxing Commission (who is technically is without a Japanese Boxing license), a potential fight with Nietes could take place there. If not, there is a possibility of such fight happening in the Philippines. Althought, that may be difficult due to financial matters.

The question remains though, what happens with Aston Palicte? Early assumption is that he fights the winner of Nietes – Ioka as part of SuperFly4. The promoter has stated that would take place in the Spring of 2019 on HBO.

Keep up with 3KingsBoxing for any further developments on this potential Super-Flyweight superfight.

By: Michael Wilson Jr.

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About Mike W.2133 Articles
Mike is the host of boxing podcast "Pound 4 Pound Boxing Report" and is a Senior Writer for 3kingsboxing.com.