WBA Super Flyweight Champion " El Profesor" Joshua Franco of San Antonio won't be spending Christmas in Texas this year. The 27-year-old WBA world champ arrived in Japan on Christmas Eve for his unification bout with Japanese legend and four-division world champion Kaz Ioka, originally of Osaka, Japan but now resides in Tokyo and currently holds the WBO version of the super flyweight title.
Franco arrived in Tokyo with his brother, Bam Rodriguez, as he prepares for fight week in what is a career-defining fight for Franco. The Alamo City native has been awaiting a mega fight for well over a year. He was in line to fight now WBC champ and future first-ballot hall of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada. The bout went to purse bids and was won by Frano's then promoter Golden Boy Promotions. Estrada opted not to fight Franco and took on unknown challenger Argi Cortes instead. Franco then split with his promoter and finally landed the mega fight that has long evaded him. The New Year's Eve card is a long-running running tradition in Tokyo and Ioka has taken part in it nearly every year since 2011.
Franco last fought in August of 2021 at the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa and scored a 12-round UD victory over Andrew Moloney, a fight that Franco looked highly impressive in and both he and his trainer called the best performance of his career. Franco currently sports an 18-1-2 (8) record. Ioka last fought in July and took a wide decision over fellow future Hall of Famer Donnie Nietes and sports a 29-2 (15) and has held his version of the belt since June of 2019 when he rallied to stop Aston Palicte. Franco captured his WBA belt in June of 2020 in the Top Rank bubble in Las Vegas. The other two belts in the super flyweight division, which is considered the most loaded division in the sport, are held by Estrada who won the WBC belt vacated by Bam Rodriguez, and the IBF belt is currently held by Fernando Martinez.