Ioka to fight for vacant WBA 108lb belt
By Joe Koizumi
Unbeaten ex-WBA minimumweight champ Kazuto Ioka (10-0, 6 KOs), who lately renounced his belt to move up to the 108-pound category, will be awarded an opportunity to fight Mexican Jose Rodriguez (28-1, 17 KOs), in Osaka, Japan, on the last day of the year. The 23-year-old youngster is tremendously popular in his native Osaka, where people expect him to be the first Japanese boxer that will gain the second world belt only in his eleventh pro bout. The previous WBA full champ Roman Gonzalez has been elevated to the super champ [
] in the light-flyweight division thanks to his five successful defenses. Now that another title bout is announced, we will see no less than five world title goes on December 31. It is possible Only In Japan.
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Also, Rodriguez lost his last fight for the interim WBA belt and is rewarded for that with a fight for the regular title
