The Rematch of 2023: Kazuto Ioka vs Joshua Franco

Published

3 months ago

June 19, 2023

The-Rematch-of-2023-Kazuto-Ioka-vs-Joshua-Franco

The most fascinating rematch of the year will take place this weekend in Tokyo, Japan where the world’s number four super-flyweight, Kazuto Ioka (29-2-1) meets the world’s number five super-flyweight, Joshua Franco (18-1-3). This is a re-run of their December 2022 split draw and promises something fascinating.

Franco, out of Texas, is perhaps the most aggressive fighter in the world. In December, he threw 1400 punches, nearly double the number thrown by Ioka, out of Osaka, who deployed all his experience to remain in control of the early part of the fight, relying upon superior accuracy and technical excellence to outscore a fighter who outworked him in every single round. In the first, they threw over a hundred jabs between them and landed almost none, striking at one another’s high guards, Ioka giving ground in those small increments and showing better head-movement.

Part of what Franco struggled with in the early part of that fight was range. Ioka is a general of renown and he knows the ring-ranges and how to access them. If Franco stood off, he found himself engaged in a technical battle he absolutely could not win; if he overstepped, he found himself rushing an opponent who has mastered small moves and has the uppercut to protect them and the right-hand to exact a wearying toll. Both men have chins equal to the other’s power and it is unlikely that the rematch will produce a stoppage unless the thirty-four-year-old Ioka has gone back considerably, but Franco’s problem was not one of accumulation but one of points. Wherever he tried to fight he seemed outmatched.

Meanwhile, he was forced to continue to fight at a demanding pace because any round in which he was outworked he was sure to lose. He had no choice but to continue to attack and to try to rack up points of his own while placing his fight-engine under the closest scrutiny imaginable. Rounds fell through his fingers like sand, until, in the fourth, he banked one.

Franco had found the Goldilocks range for his punches, putting his left foot inside Ioka’s left foot and staying there. He allowed Ioka his superior boxing and bet upon himself to out-punch the Japanese, and it worked. Franco is not fast handed, but he throws meaty punches that sound and look dramatic. Both men were busier in the fourth round and it suited Franco to get hit if it meant he could land important punches of his own. He had established a foothold in the fight. He would not have it all his own way, far from it, but he won the remainder of the fight, arguably stringing together four through nine before dropping off in the tenth.

Ioka seemed genuinely befuddled to me. He did jab, he did push off with both gloves, he did slip and duck and throw the right when his back hit the ropes and he did make those incremental moves, but Franco now matched them and it seemed no matter where Ioka turned, Franco was in his space without over-reaching in the way he had through three. If Franco hit as hard as his punches looked and sounded, Ioka would have been in trouble in the sixth, but a knockout percentage of thirty-five won’t cut it. In fact, Ioka (46%) is probably the puncher of the two.

Ioka tried to neaten up even further, fighting only along the direct front, uppercuts and jabs, while Franco threw meathooks, going to the body with more frequency as the fight progressed, both throwing eye-watering beltline work throughout. But it should be noted that within this chaos, Ioka did not panic. And he continued to outland Franco. Only human, Franco ceded the tenth and I thought the eleventh, though the final and official scorecards were probably settled in this confusing and difficult spell of the fight, nine and eleven so close as to be scored either way so far as I could tell.

Those scorecards ran 115-113 for Franco and 114-114, 114-114, a majority draw. To rescue that draw, Franco had to win that twelfth round. Had Ioka, who came out of his corner screaming, won this round, he would have been fighting someone else this Saturday and Franco would be cursing his flagging stamina and looking to match more minor contenders. Instead, he turned in the best round of his professional career, throwing an overwhelming number of punches in what was his busiest round of a hard fight. As has been said, quantity has a quality of its own, and if Ioka wasn’t quite overwhelmed, he was certainly chased out of contention of this three minutes, which you should see if you haven’t.

I enjoyed the first fight enough to watch and score it twice, emerging once with a 114-114 card, and once with a 115-113 card for Franco, mirroring the judging exactly. But it is not a classic. Perhaps it is the sight and sound of the punches both men landed, hard and sure but never drawing a serious reaction. There was something bloodless about it. A good fight but not a great one.

What is exciting about the rematch is not that it might be the same, which would certainly be worth watching in its own right, but that it might be different. Franco found his man, beyond all hope of contradiction and for all that he slipped a bit in the late rounds, he rallied magnificently to find him again in the twelfth. When a swarmer finds his man, it tends to be a permanent arrangement. Franco knows how Ioka moves, where he will be and so was able to force him to fight with more frequency, and often to outfight him. Will round one of the rematch just be round thirteen?

If that is the case, Ioka cannot hope to win. There is no way Franco will lose each of the first three rounds again and Ioka needed each of these just to score the draw first time around. The only solutions for the Japanese veteran is for him to change where he will be, or changes up his fight plan completely enough that it doesn’t matter that Franco finds him.

The notion of Ioka on his bike is attractive but at thirty-four years of age, it is unlikely he could sustain this strategy. Worse, Franco thrives on momentum. Vacating the space might just encourage the American to fill it. It seems likely to me then that Ioka will try to increase his punch output early which is going to lead to a very dramatic late showdown, or, my guess, that he will have prepared some pet-punch, some by-design combination that will place the predictable Franco under his control or in his wheelhouse. This is likely to produce something very agreeable for both the Sweet Scientists and the casual fan.

On balance, and based upon very little, I think that Ioka’s time has come and gone. He’s in with the wrong man, a man who would have been beaten back by Ioka in his prime but who now represents a nightmarish prospect for an older fighter. It will once again be close, but this time Franco will be contesting the twelfth in search of the win rather than the draw and will do enough to get there, split on the official cards.

One fight of intrigue appears on the undercard. Daigo Higa (Japan, 19-2-1) and Sirichai Thaiyen (Thailand, 65-4) wore straps in previous lives down at 112lbs. Now they meet in a crossroads dust-up at 118lbs. For the loser, professional oblivion, but the winner will become a person of interest at bantamweight.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 80

Matt McGrain

Up Next

Literary Notes: Jerry Izenberg and More (Book Reviews by Thomas Hauser)

Don't Miss

Tim Tszyu Blasts Out Carlos Ocampo in 77 Seconds

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

23 hours ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

Applerose2

In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 1,664

Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Tedious-Fights-and-a-Controversial-Draw-Smudge-the-Matchroom-Boxing-Card-in-Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 2,460

Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Zhilei-Zhang-KOs-Joe-Joyce-Calls-Out-Tyson-Fury

Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 1,260