## PREVIEW OF OLEYDONG-IOKA

February 11, 2011

TOKYO, JAPAN

As there's a mountain, man tries to climb up to the summit. As there's a record, man tries to break it. There's a record of winning a world belt in a shortest career in Japan, previously established by ex-WBC bantam ruler Joichiro Tatsuyoshi and former WBA super-fly champ Nobuo Nashiro in their eighth pro bout. Unbeaten 21-year-old prospect Kazuto Ioka (6-0, 4 KOs), ex-amateur national champ with a 95-10 mark, will make an ambitious crack?in his seventh bout?at the WBC strawweight title against also unbeaten defending champ Oleydong Sithsamerchai (35-0-1, 13 KOs), a slick-punching Thailander, today (Friday) in Kobe, Japan.

Ioka, a legitimate 108-pounder, failed to get a shot at the WBC light-fly belt against Gilberto Keb Baas through negotiation, so he struggled to move down to the 105-pound category just to break the Japanese record. Kazuto is a nephew of Hiroki Ioka, a tall and lanky speedster who once became the first WBC 105-pound champ in his ninth pro bout and acquired the WBA 108-pound belt by dethroning legendary Korean Myungwoo Yuh.

The defending champ is Oleydong, a puzzling southpaw with his fast foot and hand, who has kept the WBC belt since November 2007, when he outmaneuvered Eagle Den Junlaphan to wrest the throne in Thailand. The Thai southpaw, making his seventh defense, has lately had a serious weight problem, having shown tough defenses because of his less satisfactory condition.

Ioka, a talented hard-hitting youngster now coached by Cuban trainer Ismael Salas, entered the world top ten after his third pro bout by defeating world-rated compatriot Takashi Kunishige in December 2009. Having beat Indonesian champ Heri Amol last April, Ioka, a fast-handed boxer-puncher, acquired the national light-fly belt by stopping game and gallant compatriot Masayoshi Segawa in the tenth and final round last October.

It is said both struggled to make the weight, though Oleydong tipped the beam at 104.5 pounds, while Ioka scaled in at the 105-pound class limit yesterday. But they may recuperate and recover from dehydration and hunger before the title bout this evening.

Ioka may have a puncher's and youngster's chance to win the belt and break the record, since Oleydong, in his latest defenses, looked so sluggish and unimpressive that he very barely kept his belt against Yasutaka Kuroki (113-112, 114-112, 114-113) and Pornsawan Porpramook (114-114 twice and 114-113 against the champ) with his severe reduction of weight. But Ioka's flaw is truly his lack of experience in the paid ranks, so he should take the initiative early and control the fight with his own pace, otherwise the 25-year-old Thailander may outleg and outmaneuver the less experienced challenger, even if vastly talented.

WBC officials are as follows: referee Bruce McTavish (Philippine-based New Zealander), judges Douglas Belton, Eric John Gillett (both New Zealand) and Samuel Conde (Puerto Rico); supervisor Frank Quill.

WBA feather champ Yuriorkis Gamboa will be in attendance, as he is one of compatriot trainer Ismael Salas' pupils, as Ioka.

This show is presented by Ioka Promotions.

(2-11-11)

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