PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
1st world boxing championship fight to be streamed live on UFC FIGHT PASS®
(L-R) – Aston Palicte & Kazuto Ioka
LAS VEGAS (June 18, 2019) – The official weigh in was held today for tomorrow’s (Wednesday, June 19) first world championship boxing match ever streamed live on UFC Fight Pass®, between the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) top two-ranked junior bantamweight contenders, “Mighty” Aston Palicte and Kazuto Ioka, who will square off for the vacant WBO World title.
Palicte and Ioka both weigh in at the 115-pound maximum.
Palicte’s promoter, Roy Jones Jr. (RJJ) Boxing Promotions, owns the worldwide live streaming rights outside of Japan. Palicte vs. Ioka, co-promoted by RJJ Boxing and Reason Taki Promotions, will be streamed live, starting at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT, from Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Chiba, Japan.
The 28-year-old Palicte (pictured above) knocked out previously unbeaten Jose “Chiquiro” Martinez, this past January 31st in the second round of their WBO title eliminator. Palicte become the mandatory challenger for then WBO champion and fellow Filipino, Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, who subsequently relinquished his title belt rather than accept a Palicte rematch to pursue more lucrative fights than a rematch with his countryman.
Nietes and Palicte had fought to a controversial 12-round draw last September for the then vacant WBO junior bantamweight world title. Nietes, ironically, captured the title last December 31st in Macao, China, winning a controversial 12-round split decision over Ioka.
The No. 2-rated Ioka, 30, has a decisive experience advantage over the younger, stronger Palicte. He has a 13-2 (3 KOs) record in world title fights and Ioka is on a mission to become the first Japanese boxer to be world champion in four different divisions. The only other members of this elite Nippon club are Hozumi Hagegawa, Koki Kameda, Akira Yaegashi and Naoko Fuijioka, the lone female in the group.
A triumph over Ioka will allow Palicte to join an elite club of Filipino world boxing champions, past and present, such as Nietes, Manny Pacquiao, Pancho Villa, Flash Elorde, and Nonito Donaire.
ABOUT ROY JONES JR, BOXING PROMOTIONS: Co-founded in 2013 by 10-time world champion Roy Jones, Jr. and Keith Veltre, Roy Jones, Jr. (RJJ) Boxing Promotions is on its way to reinventing boxing. RJJ has already made a huge impact in the boxing community in a few short years. Creating exhilarating content for CBS Sports, Showtime, ESPN, beIN Sports and UFC FIGHT PASS in some of the finest venues across the country, RJJ has proven it is conquering the sweet science of the sport.
Based in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, NV, Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions is climbing to the top at a fast pace, adding young talent to its growing stable: former world champion bantamweight Joseph Agbeko, junior bantamweight world title challenger Aston Palicte, middleweight Connor Coyle, junior middleweights John Vera and Daniel Rosario Cruz, junior lightweight Randy Moreno, bantamweights Max Ornelas and Tony Lopez, cruiserweight Adrian Taylo, middleweight Shady Gamhour, featherweight Edward Vazquez, junior welterweight Kendo Castaneda and heavyweight Alexander Flores.
THE FIGHT JOURNAL 