Kazuto Ioka defends his WBA super flyweight world title against Josber Perez on the traditional Japanese New Year’s Eve boxing event.
Ioka (30-2-1, 15 KOs) makes the first defense of his WBA crown against Venezuela’s Perez (20-3, 18 KOs) tomorrow night at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Four-weight world champion Ioka makes his 12th appearance as the New Year’s Eve headline act in his native Japan. The 34-year-old drew with Joshua Franco last year in a 115lbs unification bout, and Ioka would go on to beat a 121 pound Franco for the vacant title in June.
Perez takes part in his second world title fight in the Japanese capital. He lost to Artem Dalakian by a unanimous decision for the world flyweight title in February of 2020.
He has since scored a three-fight knockout streak against much lower opposition in his homeland.
Ioka and Perez both hit the scale under the agreed 115 pound championship limit, both men weighing in identically at 114.6 pounds for the last big fight of 2023.
