World Boxing Association super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka of Shisei Boxing Gym pledged on Dec. 21 to knock out his sixth-ranked challenger Josber Perez of Venezuela on Dec. 31 at Tokyo’s Ota City General Gymnasium.

  Speaking before a group of reporters at the gym in Tokyo, the 34-year-old Ioka said, ‘’I know KO is not everything. But I want to earn a KO victory this time around so that I can build a sense of unity among fans at the gymnasium.

  If Ioka attains a KO, it will be his first KO win in six fights. His last KO win came on New Year’s Eve of 2020 when he retained his World Boxing Organization super flyweight title by stopping Kosei Tanaka of Soul Box Hatanaka Boxing Gym in the eighth round.

  It will be Ioka’s first defense of the title he won last June by decisioning Joshua Franco of the United States. Though Ioka badly wanted to have a title unification fight with World Boxing Council super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico, they failed to come to an agreement on various aspects, which is why Perez was picked as Ioka’s opponent in his title defense.

  Asked about the possibility of Ioka being tripped up if he shows too much emotion, Ioka bushed it aside by saying, ‘’I know that could happen. But since I have had this many world title fights, I think I have overcome that kind of feeling. I don’t think I would be influenced by that.’’

  Ioka also brushed aside the possibility of moving up in weight to bantamweight and said he will remain at super flyweight.

  Ioka ended his sparring for the upcoming fight in this morning, having done a total of 110 rounds of sparring with his stablemate Daigo Higa, a former WBC flyweight champion, Japanese flyweight champion Jyukiya Iimura and former WBO Asia-Pacific flyweight kingpin Ryota Yamauchi, both of Kadoebi Boxing Gym, etc.

  Commenting on Tanaka taking a crack at the WBO super flyweight title on Feb. 24 in Tokyo as part of Prime Video Presents Live Boxing 7, Ioka said, ‘’Though I have not yet given a lot of thought to it, the title unification with him will not be totally impossible if such a situation arises.

  Ioka has a record of 30 wins, including 15 knockouts, against two losses and a draw, while the 28-year-old Perez has a 20-3 win-loss tally with 18 KOs.