The Other Ioka: Hiroki Ioka in Retrospect – Boxing News 24

Kazuto Ioka is a name that stands alone at the top of his division.

With a record of 31-2-1 and multiple alphabet belts throughout his 34-fight career, it is clear that Ioka is one of the greatest fighters in the lower weight divisions today.

However, the name Ioka carries not only the praise of Kazuto, but also the legendary origins of his uncle Hiroki Ioka.

Competing in the professional ranks from 1986 to 1999, Hiroki became a two-division world champion, commanding respect in his own right. Originally from Osaka, Japan, Hiroki was born in 1969 and then turned pro in 1986 under the Miwa Tsuda gym, where his first four opponents were all debutants.

Ioka, then just 18 years old, claimed the Japan Boxing Commission minimumweight title against 16-9-4 fighter Kenji Ono – his biggest step forward in competition to date. Although it would open the door to much greater (or less, in this case) possibilities.

The WBC had just reaffirmed its strawweight title, giving Ioka the chance to become its first champion. In a classic 12-round match against Mai Thonburifarm (then 11-1), Ioka was victorious; becoming the first WBC minimumweight champion and the youngest Japanese boxer to ever win world honors, a record he still holds today.

One defense over Kyung Yun Lee, an undefeated 11-0 contender, set Yoku up for a legendary trilogy against Thai fighter Napa Kiatwanchai. Kiatwanchai was just 6-0 in his first fight, which ended in a split decision draw after a grueling 12 rounds.

Their next two meetings would go much worse for Ioki, with a split decision loss followed by a late TKO in their last meeting. Although, in retrospect, their meetings would have taken more away from Kiatwanchai than from Ioki; Kiatwanchai would lose the WBC belt to Jum Hwan Choi (then 19-2) and retire with an average record of 16-8-1.

On the other hand, Ioka has learned from his trilogy with Kiatwanchai and moved up to light flyweight, hoping to make a name for himself in a more traditional division. In his home country, he continued to dominate from 1990 until the end of 1991, challenging the undefeated and imperial Korean Myung Woo Yoo (then 36-0).

In a brilliant performance in which both fighters gave their hearts, Ioka captured the WBA world featherweight title from Sonaga Punch and his zero point.

With two impressive unanimous decision defenses under his belt, the powerful Korean was once again knocking on his door with a burning desire to claim the belt.

Traveling to Osaka in 1992 in a highly controversial bout, Yu avenged the only loss on his record in an extremely close game, with the scorecards suggesting many stories; 112–117, 111–119 and 114–114.

Ioka found his time at light flyweight limited and he moved back to what must have seemed like better pastures at the time.

With one simple tweak, Ioka took part in the biggest fight of his career against Venezuelan David Griman (then 17-1); whose only loss was due to the legendary Tai Haosai galaxy.

At the Prefectural Gymnasium, where Ioka has been something of a home throughout his career, the WBA world flyweight champion took charge, moving into the second half of what was otherwise a competitive fight; Griman will win by technical knockout in the eighth round.

It would appear that flyweight would become a dangerous weight for Ioki, with a slew of wins at a lower level that would not help in his next title fight, a WBA World Flyweight match with “Saen Sor Ploenchit”, then undefeated at 22 years old. seizures. Ioka, ever the warrior, kept the fight competitive until a 10th round TKO stopped the Japanese phenom again.

The brilliant strawweight and light flyweight will be cursed in his performance at flyweight as a few quick wins will put him in the spotlight of Jose Bonilla, the 21-3 Venezuelan who will defeat “Ploencita” to capture the WBA flyweight belt. Once again, despite skill and perseverance, luck was not on the side of the resilient Ioki, who lost by TKO in the seventh round.

Many would say that they gave up at such losses, but the Ioka blood as we see it today in Kazuto is strong-willed and ready to fight.

In his last bid for glory, Ioka moved up to heavyweight, where he felt comfortable, picking up a few easy wins in Osaka before heading to Nagoya in the spring of 1998 to try to capture Satoshi Iida's WBA world super flyweight title. belt around his waist after many years without such honor.

Then, with a score of 23-1-1, southpaw Iida took the win in another very exciting fight for Ioki. It was a majority decision, with judge Masakazu Uchida scoring the fight 114–114. Ioka placed a bet only to stumble upon the scorecards again.

He fought only twice more, ending his career at the end of 1998, losing to rising Korean Zainichi Masamori Tokuyama, another interesting figure in Japanese boxing history.

Hiroki Ioka retired with a professional record of 33-8-1 in 42 fights, having fought over 300 entertaining rounds in a career spanning strawweight and heavyweight. He became a two-division world champion and a four-division contender thanks to the tenacity and determination built into his lightweight body.

The fighter, despite no longer boxing, could not stay away from boxing for long.

He continued to train and manage fighters through the Ioka Boxing Gym and Ioka Promotions, and the influence of his career continued to bleed through his own blood into the next generation.

Looking back at Ioki's long career, it is easy to argue that he suffered in his quest for greatness, with each successive weight class draining him and diminishing his opportunities in the ring.

However, this would be too dismissive; To focus on his eight losses is to subtract from his double-digit victories, which, especially early in his career, would highlight his outstanding pedigree.

Although Hiroki Ioka suffered more casualties than his gifted and experienced nephew, he will go down in history as a fighter who showed courage, tenacity and determination in every fight.