WBO World Championship Committee has ordered negotiations for the WBO jr. bantamweight mandatory title contest between reigning champion Kazuto Ioka (29-2-1, 15 KOs) and #1 contender and former WBO flyweight champion Junto Nakatani (24-0, 18 KOs). The parties have 30 days to reach an agreement or purse bid proceedings will be called. The minimum acceptable bid is $100,000.
Ioka recently retained the WBO belt with a draw against WBA champ Joshua Franco on December 31. Nakatani relinquished his flyweight belt last year to compete in the 115lb division.
He’d just made a mandatory against Nietes, but I figured this would happen. Nakatani has a good chance of winning this fight imo. I think they should do this one and maybe have Franco against Tanaka or Nakagawa on the undercard.
Ioka wants no part of Nakatani, even worse with such possible miserable purse and is aiming to a most lucrative and winnable fight against Gallo Estrada. Nakatani vs Franco could be a terrific fight