Ioka stops Tanaka in Eight!

     Japanese boxing traditionally places a fight that is an anticipated event on New Year's Eve to end the year in a spectacular manner.

2020 was not an exception as unbeaten three-division champion Kosei Tanaka attempted to add a fourth championship to his resume' in a challenge to WBO junior bantamweight champion Kazuto Ioka.

Kazuto Ioka has fallen to the back burner a bit in a division that offers two tremendous champions (WBA champion Roman Gonzalez and WBC king Juan Francisco Estrada), a former champion who owns wins over both of the above champions (Srisaket Sor Rungvisai), and another underrated champion that has been overshadowed by the others (IBF boss Jerwin Ancajas).

Ioka was certainly the "B-Side" despite carrying the title into the ring and that was because of the talent of opponent Kosei Tanaka, who besides being undefeated, had won titles for the WBO at 105, 108, and 112 pounds.

Tanaka had also been in what some (including TRS) had awarded the fight of the year for 2018 in his flyweight title victory over Sho Kimura and in another great fight over former light flyweight champion Ryo Taguchi, so Tanaka was the featured fighter in this bout.

Tanaka's charisma and exciting style had caused him to be tabbed as the next star from Japan to invade the United States similar to Naoya Inoue and plenty of top opponents waiting for him, all Tanaka had to do was push aside Ioka to begin the process of coming to America.

That would prove a tall task as the slightly larger Tanaka was expected to control the fight from distance, with Ioka's pressure attempting to take the battle to the inside.

For the first four rounds, the fight was evenly fought as I gave each man two of the first four rounds, but it was Tanaka walking forward with Ioka boxing from distance.

Tanaka was doing well in the fifth when the tide turned from an Ioka left hook caught a charging Tanaka and drove him across the ring and down to the canvas with seconds to go in the round.

Tanaka may have been saved by the bell in the fifth, and Ioka dominated the sixth as he sent Tanaka down again with a counter left hook with Tanaka gamely finishing the round.

Tanaka's tactics changed in the seventh and he became very aggressive in his attack and won the stanza clearly on my card.

The eighth seemed to be moving in the same direction as Tanaka was controlling the exchanges by moving to the inside, but as Tanaka pressed forward Ioka blasted him with the counter left hook that knocked Tanaka out on his feet with the referee grabbing Tanaka to hold him up as he immediately ended the fight.  

For Ioka, this win was a career-defining victory that could set him up for eventual fights against the survivor of the WBA/WBC unification fight between Gonzalez and Estrada or Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, who is a mandatory fight for the winner of Gonzalez-Estrada.

For Tanaka, he may have hit that "wall" that all fighters hit where their talents are evened out by fighters that are larger than they can handle at a certain level.

Tanaka could decide to return to the flyweight division, where he could rule the division for quite a while or stay at 115 pounds, where he has the skills to be competitive but may not have the punch resistance against the best that the division has to offer.

It's been an interesting year in boxing and this fight gives 2020 a solid ending to the year.

I'm planning an awards post for the year in boxing sometime in January.