Abema TV: Kazuto Ioka vs. Josber Alexander Pérez & Daigo Higa vs. Navapon Khaikanha RBR

Top of the hour, twelve hours from now.

(so, quick rundown explanation: the coverage on Abema.tv will begin at ten past 2am EST, which is 16:10 local time aka 4:10pm in Tokyo. Abema is only showing four bouts of the card - the main event and co-main as listed in the RBR title, plus Shunto "Hayato" Tsutsumi vs. Luis Monción Ventura in a featherweight ten-rounder and Kotaro Shigesato vs. Danai Ngiabphukhiaw in a super flyweight eight-rounder. The undercard also has two novice fights but those will be wrapped up by 16:10 and not part of the broadcast. Abema has it penciled in for almost seven hours - from 16:10 until 23:00, which is 11pm local, which is 9am EST - but in reality it won't go anywhere near that long. It'll all be over but the crying by 7am EST, max. I'd estimate ring walks for Ioka vs. Pérez to be 6ish)

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

@Accurate @anjawnaymiz @AntonioMartin1 @Arch Stanton @Banana-Rama @BaronSamedi @Big Ukrainian @Boxed Ears @Boxing2019 @Boxing Prospect @Braindamage @BCS8 @Bustajay @C.J. @Cafe @catchwtboxing @chacal @Chuck Norris @CST80 @Curlew @Dance84 @Dangerwood84 @deltrotter @dinovelvet @DoubleJab666 @DramaShow @drenlou @Drew101 @Drinquor @Dubblechin @elmaldito @exocet76 @Fogger @FrankinDallas @George Crowcroft @GK BOX @Goose @GotchaHat @HamburgBuam @Hanz Cholo @heerko koois @Holler @hoopsman @Inglis_1 @IntentionalButt @ipitythefool @IsaL @Jake LaMotta @JOKER @JordanK2406 @JOSEY WALES @JunlongXiFan @Kapparino @kirk @kiwi_boxer @KiwiMan @Komaster @kostya by ko @lepinthehood @lobk @Loudon @Max Thunder @McGrain @MidniteProwler @miniq @mirkofilipovic @MVC! @nellybc @Noel857 @Notepad12 @NullaLexInk @Oddone @Olu G. Rotimi @Pepsi Dioxide @Perkin Warbeck @Pimp C @pincai @PinoyProdigy @Reg @Reinhardt @Reppin501 @robert ungurean @Robney @Rock0052 @RockyMarciano @roeknott @rorschach51 @roughdiamond @Rubber Glove Sandwich @Rumsfeld @Russell @Sammy123 @sasto @Scotty Cork @Serge @ShovelHook @sid @sniffmybadger @Sonny1 @splatter69 @SquaredCircle @Stiff Jab @The G-Man @The Professor @tinman @titanic @UnleashtheFURY @uranage @vast @WhataRock @Willie Maeket @Who_Necks @Wizbit1013

...how's that for a clarion roll-call?

 

Lil Butt is on his way over to hang out and watch the World's End PPV his grandma ordered for him until not long before this gets underway, so I'll be returning in due course.

I'll leave you with this by way of guidance:

You know where the fight is airing. Says in both title & OP. In fact here's a legal international stream from Abema themselves:

https://abema.tv/channels/boxing/slots/DcZdRRoP1ZgMxb

 

Kotaro Shigesato - whose stage name is Kantaro Juri or alternately Song Juri - will be fighting the undercard of Ioka, his BFF, for the second time here. Pretty big step up for him against Thai southpaw "Laser Man".

 

Not thrilled about Pérez but:

This content is protected

 

Pérez and Ioka should be in the ring already 12hrs from now.

 

According to a ProBoxTV article, the card starts at 6am EST (1800 local time) with main event ring walks at 9am EST (2100 local) and the whole seven fight card is on the Abema broadcast.

https://proboxtv.com/news/ioka-vs-perez-live-stream-betting-odds-and-fight-card/en

I am 99% sure they are dead wrong on both of those details.

 

They're showing a "Kazuto Ioka's 12th New Year's Eve pre-special feature" now. It's basically him and some geezer driving around Tokyo chatting.

https://abema.tv/now-on-air/boxing

 

This content is protected

Thank you Abema!

 

Venue mostly empty, few people trickling in to sit now.

 

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id...eve-event-tokyo-inoki-mayweather-sapp-akebono

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/kazuto-ioka-on-his-determination-to-go-ahead-with-his-traditional-new-years-eve-fight-it-is-my-mission/272681#:~:text=As Iota fans, and fans,reigning WBA junior bantamweight champion.


For the first several years Ioka did it, there was a friendly rivalry with Takashi Uchiyama. They would each main event a show on NYE for different promoters on different TV networks and essentially duke it out for ratings. Uchiyama fought opposite Ioka on the date half a dozen times, lasting until 2016 when he lost his rematch to Jezreel Corrales and retired.

The very same guy, btw, that is sitting in the middle of this analyst's panel.

 

They have a countdown graphic - currently at 3:20:22 ...as in, main event ring walks at 6am EST on the dot.

 

Daigo Higa trying on gloves.