In the last world title fight of the year WBO junior bantamweight champion Kazuto Ioka of Japan and Joshua Franco from San Antonio, Texas, the WBA champion, fought to a 12-round majority draw in a unification bout at the Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, on Saturday.
The scores were 115-113, 114-114 twice, with the winning scorecard handed in by South Africa’s Stanley Christodoulou.
In a closely fought encounter, it appeared as if Franco had done enough to unify the titles as the busier fighter.
Ioka, 33, spent most of the rounds moving in and out and throwing punches which did not land through the high guard of Franco.
However, Franco appeared to be the stronger fighter and when Ioka attempted to stand his ground in the later rounds he was unable to stop or hurt the younger Franco.
Ioka, who has held world titles at strawweight, junior flyweight and flyweight, retained his WBO junior flyweight belt for the fifth time as Franco retained the WBA belt for the first time.
Not the result we wanted or thought we deserved. We go home with a Draw (115-113 Franco and 114-114x2) Thank you to Kazuto Ioka and his team for everything. Nothing but respect for Ioka who is a great Champion. We hope to see you again soon and give the fans another great fight.. pic.twitter.com/28lhudEGeh
— Robert Garcia Boxing (@GarciaBoxing) December 31, 2022