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Martinez-Ioka II…
A weird result –– nothing happened.
Martinez is the WBA junior bantamweight titleholder. He still is, but he was pulled from thefight Monday morning in Japan and Sunday evening on the west coast.
So, what happened?
Martinez didn’t attend the media workout or the press conference. Then, the fight was off.
The big kick in the pants –– Martinez relinquished his IBF title prior. Willibaldo Garcia Perez and Rene Calixto Bibiano fought to a draw for the vacated belt on December 21.
The junior bantamweight division, outside of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez holding the WBC title, is in disarray. We will wait to see what Martinez does. Who knows what will happen with the IBF and WBO titleholder. Phumelela Cafu is the odd man in the mix as he upset Kosei Tanaka inOctober.
This fight was supposed to set up a potential super-fight with “Bam” Rodriguez, but instead it didn’t do much.
What happened on the card?
Hayato Tsutsumi KO8 Rene Alvarado
Junior lightweight Tsutsumi looks like a real contender as he stopped Alvarado, a former beltholder.
Joe Shiraishi UD8 Tsuyoshi Sato
Junior bantamweight Shiraishi bounced back from his lone career loss with a win in a close fight.
