Both World Boxing Association super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka of Shisei Boxing Gym and sixth-ranked challenger Josber Perez of Venezuela expressed their respective confidence in their Dec. 31 title fight as they held a customary signing ceremony and a press conference at Tokyo’s Abema Towers on Dec. 29.

  The scheduled 12-rounder will be held at Tokyo’s Ota City General Gymnasium. It will be Ioka’s 12^th fight on New Year’s Eve, including 11 world title fights.

  Ioka said, ‘’I want to earn a victory by showing a good performance and win it by knockout if possible. I hope to show how I have grown as a boxer compared to before, ‘’ thereby brushing aside the Perez side’s indication that Ioka is getting old at the age of 34.

  Ioka’s long-time trainer Isamel Salas of Cuba was also at the conference and said, ‘’Ioka has been boxing as a champion at various divisions. We don’t pay to much attention to our opponents’ weak points. We will do what we have been doing in our own ways.’’

  Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Perez, who was accompanied by Mexican trainer Jose Alfredo Caballero, said, ‘’I will take advantage of this big chance and am determined to win the title.’’

  Asked about undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘’the Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym, who became the second boxer in history to claim undisputed championship status in two different weight divisions as he knocked out Marlon Tapales of the Philippines on Dec. 26, Ioka said, ‘’Becoming the undisputed champion in two different divisions is amazing.’’

  While Ioka and Inoue currently share Japan’s most world title victories of 21, Ioka can become Japan’s top again if he wins the upcoming fight. But Ioka simply said, ‘’I cannot very well lose once I climb through the ropes. The results (record) will follow afterwards. I have no attachments to that. So, I will do what I have to do.’’

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