Joshua Franco and Kazuto Ioka both entered their first fight as reigning junior bantamweight titlist.
They will now enter the ring for their anticipated sequel as former titleholders.
San Antonio’s Franco was forced to relinquish the WBA 115-pound title after failing to make weight for Saturday’s rematch versus Ioka. The bout will still proceed, with only Ioka eligible to win the now vacant title atop an Abema TV Pay-Per-View event this Saturday from Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
The official pre-fight weigh-in saw Franco (18-1-3, 8KOs) tip the scales at 55.2 kilograms—roughly 121.7 pounds, which is nearly two full divisions above the 115-pound limit. He was granted two hours to lose as much weight as possible, per a fight week agreement reached between the respective teams. However, Franco’s body had already shut down as he was only able to get down to 121 ¼ pounds (55 kilograms).
Ioka was well under the limit on the first attempt, as the Osaka-born boxer—now based out of Tokyo—was 52 kilograms (roughly 114.6 pounds).
Franco and his team were apologetic throughout Friday’s weigh-in and appreciative of the opportunity to proceed with this weekend’s rematch.
“There was some issues the past few days that even up to a few hours ago made us believe the fight was off,” Robert Garcia, Franco’s longtime trainer, told BoxingScene.com after the weigh-in. “Josh has always been a professional and has never had a problem like this before. We had been in communication with the promoter for a few days on how to keep the fight on. This was all agreed to prior to the weigh-in. We have nothing but respect for Ioka, his team and his promoter.”
Their first fight took place last December 31 at the same venue and ended in a twelve-round, majority draw. Franco entered as the recently upgraded full WBA junior bantamweight titlist, while Ioka—who initially missed weight last December before hitting the mark on the second attempt—made the sixth defense of his WBO title in their attempted unification bout.
Franco-Ioka I was permitted to move forward on the condition that the winner—or Ioka in the event of a draw or No-Contest—next face then-mandatory challenger Junto Nakatani. The WBO stuck to its guns and ordered the fight, only for Ioka to vacate the title after having already agreed to a rematch versus Franco.
To his credit, Ioka took Friday’s weigh-in snafu in stride.
“I’ve come this far… I’m in the best condition right now,” Ioka said during the post weigh-in press conference. “I have no hard feelings, no resentment towards my opponent.”
A win on Saturday will see Ioka (29-2-1, 15KOs) become a six-time titleholder in four weight divisions and a two-time junior bantamweight titlist. Any other outcome will result in the WBA title remaining vacant.
Franco’s team admitted uncertainty during fight week as to whether the fight would proceed.
Confusion lingered when the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) raised the issue that a drug testing sample provided by Ioka from last December 31 revealed trace amounts of cannabis. The amount was well under the threshold of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), though Ioka’s team challenged the finding outright and denied any wrongdoing.
A similar development occurred in 2021, though Ioka’s team was able to prove contamination.
Nevertheless, it was a troubling week for the visiting Franco who was unsure until a couple of days ago if there was still a fight this weekend.
“It’s been a tough week,” Franco admitted to the assembled media on Friday. “There was a point when we thought the fight wasn’t going to happen. Both teams came to an agreement. We’re going to continue the fight. Everything is good.
“I felt good. I’m happy and I’m ready to go.”
Franco previously held the WBA ‘Regular’ title, which was upgraded last summer after Juan Francisco Estrada was stripped of the ‘Super’ belt for failure to honor an ordered title consolidation bout. The lone successful defense of Franco’s full reign was in the draw versus Ioka.
Ioka previously held the WBO 115-pound title dating back to a June 2019 knockout win over Aston Palicte. The historic feat saw Ioka become Japan’s first-ever male boxer to win titles in four weight divisions after having reigned at strawweight, junior flyweight and flyweight.
Franco-Ioka II is not available on any U.S. televised platform. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is required by U.S. viewers to access the Abema TV feed.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox