Tokyo will play host to a rematch for the WBA junior bantamweight title early Saturday morning. However, only one of the two fighters will be able to claim the title.
Joshua Franco was set to enter the bout as the champ and was putting his title on the line against Kazuto Ioka in a rematch of their majority decision draw last December. However, Franco missed weight and vacated the title bout. Ioka can win it with a victory, but if Franco wins, the title would remain vacant.
How to watch Joshua Franco vs. Kazuto Ioka
The main card is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday. Main event ring walks will happen early in the 9 a.m. hour and the fight will get started shortly after that.
Ahead of fight morning, there is no television or live stream option in the United States. This could change, but for the time-being, there is nothing available.
Fighter history
In their New Year’s Eve bout, Franco took one scorecard 115-113 and the other two cards scored the fight a 114-114 draw. The bout was for Franco’s WBA title and Ioka’s WBO title. No unification happened and since then Ioka has vacated his title to secure this rematch. The WBO had ordered him to make a mandatory defense against Junto Nakatani.
Franco is 18-1-3 (1 NC) had held the WBA title since June 2020. He beat Andrew Moloney via unanimous decision in the first of three bouts between the two fighters. They rematched in November 2020 but the fight was ruled a no contest after Franco suffered an eye injury from a head clash. They met again in August 2021 and Franco claimed another unanimous decision.
Ioka is 29-2-1 and had held the WBO title since 2019, beating Aston Palicte via tenth-round TKO. He made five straight successful defenses before giving up the title after the Franco draw. The title remains vacant.
Fight odds
Franco is a slim favorite to win with -120 odds while Ioka is -105. Total rounds is installed at 10.5 with the over priced at -700 and the under priced at +400. The favored fight outcome is a Franco decision at +135, followed by an Ioka decision at +150. A Franco stoppage is +600 and an Ioka stoppage is +650.
Full card for Joshua Franco vs. Kazuto Ioka
- Main event: Joshua Franco vs. Kazuto Ioka, 12 rounds, for Franco’s WBA junior bantamweight title
- Musashi Mori vs. Takuya Watanabe, 12 rounds, junior lightweight
- Daigo Higa vs. Sirichai Thaiyen, 10 rounds, bantamweight
- Kantaro Juri vs. Wilbert Berondo, 8 rounds, junior bantamweight
- Taiga Tamegai vs. Fumiaki Iwasaki, 4 rounds, junior featherweight