Joshua Franco will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) super flyweight belt in a rematch against Kazuto Ioka on June 24 at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

The clash was confirmed yesterday and will be the second fight between them, who last December 31 drew in a very entertaining bout that left the public wanting to see more. 

Franco will be defending the belt for the third time, which he has held since June 2020, when he defeated Andrew Moloney. In his most recent bout against Ioka he did a great job as the visitor and in the end retained the belt after a draw with the Japanese.

Ioka this time will go as a challenger. In the fight at the end of the year he was WBO champion but he vacated the belt and now he will go for the black and gold belt at home with the goal of taking it from the American champion. 

Franco comes in with a record of 18 wins, 1 loss, 3 draws and 8 knockouts, while Ioka has 29 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw and 15 knockouts.