Kazuto Ioka is bringing back his long-running New Year’s Eve tradition — but this time with a fresh platform and a potential path toward Japanese boxing history. The four-division champion will headline on December 31 in Tokyo against Venezuela’s Maikel Ordosgoitti in a 12-round WBA bantamweight title eliminator, marking both his debut at 118 lbs and his first appearance on streaming service Lemino.
The broadcast switch is significant. Lemino is also home to Naoya and Takuma Inoue, sparking immediate speculation that Ioka may be maneuvering toward a 2026 showdown with newly crowned WBC bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue. Ohashi Promotions head Hideuyki Ohashi confirmed that Ioka is among the high-profile options being considered for Takuma’s next defense, especially with a major Tokyo Dome card planned for May.
Before those talks can become real, Ioka must first bounce back from a difficult stretch. The 36-year-old is coming off a narrow loss to Fernando “Puma” Martinez in May, following the defeat that ended his WBA/IBF junior bantamweight unification bid in 2024. His last win came on New Year’s Eve 2023, when he stopped Josber Perez in seven rounds. He now enters his 13th year-end headliner with a 10-1-1 record on the holiday.
Ordosgoitti, a heavy puncher with 14 knockouts in 15 wins, returns to bantamweight after briefly competing in the WBC’s featherweight Grand Prix. The Venezuelan brings danger to Ioka’s first fight at 118 lbs, but also the opportunity for the Japanese star to immediately position himself as a top contender in a new division.
Ioka’s move to Lemino eliminates one of the final barriers between him and the Inoue brothers’ promotional orbit. Should he defeat Ordosgoitti, he could emerge as a leading candidate for Japan’s first-ever male five-division world title attempt — and potentially land on the same stage as Naoya Inoue’s planned super fight with Junto Nakatani next spring.
Image Credit: DAZN