Donnie Nietes (left) and Kazuto Ioka (right). | Facebook and Twitter Photos.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The World Boxing Organization (WBO) ordered a mandatory championship bout between its reigning super flyweight world champion Kazuto Ioka and former world champion and current top contender Donnie “Ahas” Nietes last Friday, April 1, 2022.
The WBO Championship Committee announced the mandatory title defense of Ioka by ordering his promoter, Yosuke Kaneko of TLAROCK Entertainment and Nietes’ promoter, Richard Schaefer of Probellum to initiate the negotiations of the bout which serves as a rematch between the two boxing stars.
Both camps have 30-days to negotiate and reach an agreement for the purse bid starting at $100,000.
In their first meeting, Nietes defeated Ioka via split decision to clinch the WBO world super flyweight title on December 31, 2018 at the Wynn Palace Cotai in Macao, China.
Judge Patricia Jarman scored the bout 116-112 while Levi Martinez saw it 118-110 for Nietes. One judge Samuel Nieto has it 116-112, for Ioka which resulted to the split decision victory for Nietes.
However, Nietes later on relinquished the title in 2019 by writing a letter to WBO president Francisco Valcarcel stating that he wanted a “career defining fight” instead of defending the title in a rematch against fellow Filipino, Aston Palicte. Nietes and Palicte fought in September 2018 in Inglewood, California for the same title and ended in a split draw.
Two years, later, the 39-year old Nietes returned into action in Dubai, UAE, winning the vacant WBO International super flyweight title against Colombian Pablo Carrillo via unanimous decision.
Nietes, later on fought Dominican Republic’s Norbelto Jimenez under Probellum’s fold in December 2021 which ended in a split draw in Dubai, UAE.
The pride of Murcia, Negros Occidental is turning 40 this year which is a perfect opportunity for him to get a shot for the world title before retiring.
Nietes is one of the most accomplished boxing superstars in the Philippines, being the longest-reigning boxing world champion and a four-division world champion.
The former ALA Boxing Gym stalwart who is based in Cebu holds a record of 43 wins with 23 knockouts with 1 defeat and 6 draws.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Ioka hasn’t tasted defeat since his loss to Nietes in 2018. The Japanese world champion is currently on a five-fight winning streak after winning the vacated WBO world super flyweight title the following year he got beaten by Nietes. He won the title against Palicte via a 10th round technical knockout in Japan.
His most recent bout, a world title defense ended with a unanimous decision victory against fellow Japanese Ryoji Fukunaga on December 31, 2021, in Japan. Ioka has record of 28-2 (win-loss) with 15 knockouts.
The fight date and official venue of Nietes and Ioka’s rematch will only be announced after the negotiation and purse bid.
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