TBS Japan: Kazuto Ioka vs. Kōsei Tanaka & Yuki Strong Kobayashi vs. Daigo Higa RBR

I think it´s fair to say that this ship has sailed.
Ioka is in his prime, Yaegashi was forced into retirement.

 

Ioka-Inoue to determine who's the best Japanese fighter.

 

I don´t know... I think Ioka is showing improvements.
Not only does his movements look more fluid, in my eyes he is setting up traps, showing a lot of of different looks and is feinting more.

 

Tanaka took 3 maybe 4 rounds off a special fighter despite getting taken out in the 8th round. His future at Super Flyweight is still a very promising one and he strikes me as the type who will learn from this and come back even better.

As for Ioka.... There's so much on the table for him. But Gonzalez/Estrada II winner is definitely the fight to make. We're in for a hell of a ride at Super Flyweight in 2021!

 

What a great fight between the veteran against the rising star. Tanaka looked good early on but Ioka showing his experience and it ultimately won him the fight. Hoping Tanaka comes back stronger after this fight, no shame in losing to a bad MF like Ioka.
As for Ioka, hoping to see him with the likes of Chocolatito, Gallo, SSR, Ancajas. The guy has plenty of great fights ahead of him

 

Nietes made Ioka a better fighter I can see he learn a lot from that fight hahaha. Nah, I kid. Very nice talent Ioka love that crisp counters .

 

...ko of the year contender?

 

Some of the best stoppages I've seen, ref instantly realizes Tanaka's is in bad trouble and needs to save him from more devastating shots.

Edit: the hell is that Ioka, work on that 6 pack!!!

 

Just caught this. Tanaka was pretty competitive until the first knockdown and gutsy after it, but Ioka was always too classy, too well-rounded, too experienced. Ioka is not prime, however. He's a natural flyweight and looks slightly flabby and slower at 115 because of it. Inoue is a step too far because of the size difference. I would love to see him against the winner of Estrada-Gonzalez, though.

As for Tanaka, it's yet another case of putting the cart before the horse for many. His alphabet trinket-snatching through divisions a few pounds apart let him receive hype he had not truly earned (a commonality nowadays), with many putting him on their p4p list beforehand. He has skill but clear shortcomings. Besides his lack of power, Tanaka's inconsistency with the jab, a chin that can let him down in classes that have fewer power hitters, and the absence of an x-factor altogether mean that he will be fun, but likely never a genuine king.

 

Ioka's been one of the very best, as in among a handful of names, for the last decade+. A machine. Nigh the perfect fighter. He should take a lengthy deserved bow.

 

This is true! We shouldn’t write off Tanaka just yet! Ioka just happens to be a beast and his experience in that weight division and in general was just to much for the younger fighter. I really hope he doesn’t retire just yet before fighting other top 115-pound fighters. Ioka-Estrada/SRR/Gonzales would be amazing!