Although we are hours away from bringing in the New Year, one last fight card remains on the schedule at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. WBA junior bantamweight champion Kazuto Ioka (30-2-1, 15 KOs) will continue the long-honored tradition of having a fight card in Japan on New Year’s Eve when he faces Josber Perez (20-3, 18 KOs). Earlier today, both fighters weighed in and came underneath the junior bantamweight limit of 115 pounds.
Ioka is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over former champion Joshua Franco, which was the rematch of their exciting 2022 New Year’s Eve fight that resulted in a majority draw. Ioka is now 34, and with the potential mega fights on the horizon, the pressure is on the champion to perform well so that those matchups are highly anticipated next year.
Although Perez is the betting underdog, he has been more active than the Ioka this year, as this will be his fourth fight. The other three fights were knockouts that did not pass the fourth round. The records of his opponents for those three fights were (14-15), and although active, those fights won’t prepare you for a champion like Ioka. Is there one last Cinderella story left in 2023?
Kazuto Ioka vs Josber Pérez - Conferencia de Prensa en Tokio. Parte 2. Video fina cortesía de Don Marcelino Castillo #Boxeo #NoticiasBoxeo #BoxingStuds #IokaPerez #Teiken #JBC pic.twitter.com/KJVMuiMmKi
— Boxing Studs Noticias (@BoxingStuds) December 29, 2023
KAZUTO IOKA VS. JOSBER PEREZ BETTING ODDS
Per BetOnline.ag, Kazuto Ioka is the favorite at -8000 (Over 8 ½ rounds -140), and Josber Perez is the underdog at +1900 (Under 8 ½ rounds +110).
KAZUTO IOKA VS. JOSBER PEREZ DATE, START TIME
- Date: Sunday, December 31
- Start time: 6 a.m. ET / 3 a.m. PT
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 9:00 a.m. ET / 6:00 a.m. PT
These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
Todos los protagonistas listos para la gran cartelera donde Kazuto Ioka buscará como defender su título mundial súper mosca AMB frente a Josber Pérez. Se espera un gran combate en Japón. #Boxeo #NoticiasBoxeo #BoxingStuds #IokaPerez pic.twitter.com/nTGCEtybIW
— Boxing Studs Noticias (@BoxingStuds) December 30, 2023
WHAT CHANNEL/STREAM KAZUTO IOKA VS. JOSBER PEREZ?
The fight card will be available to stream on ABEMA TV, which is a Japanese streaming service. Fight fans can connect via a VPN set for Japan and stream the fight.
KAZUTO IOKA VS. JOSBER PEREZ FIGHT CARD
- Kazuto Ioka vs. Josber Perez; For Ioka’s WBA junior bantamweight title
- Yoshimitsu Kimura vs. Kosuke Saka; junior lightweights
- Daigo Higa vs. Navapon Khaikanha; bantamweights
- Hayato Tsutsumi vs. Luis Moncion Ventura; featherweights
- Kantaro Juri vs. Danai Ngiabphukhiaw; junior bantamweights
- Masayuki Urashima vs. Kota Matsuno; welterweights
- Hibiki Yoshimura vs. Toshiya Fujioka; flyweights
