WORLD BEAT
Brooklyn’s Hitchins, 27, is now the target for Kambosos later this year, providing he gets through his March date unscathed.
H H H
ARGENTINA BY DIEGO MORILLA It was expected to be on everyone’s short list for the 2024 Fight of the Year, but the Fernando Martinez-Kazuto Ioka rematch scheduled for December 31 in Japan had to be canceled at the last minute. Apparently, Martinez was affected by very serious flu symptoms that started to manifest upon his arrival in Japan and never subsided. Their extraordinary unification clash last July was already considered one of the best fights of 2024, and a few of us (guilty, here) were refusing to vote for the Fight of the Year award until the final bell of their rematch, which was supposed to be the main event in Japan’s traditional end-of-the-year boxing mega-event. But a virus got in the way, and after careful consideration from Martinez’s team, the fight was called off only hours before it was supposed to take place. Hints were dropped when Martinez was kept from participating in the open training session scheduled a few days before the fight due to a high fever. Martinez explained then that “we’re coming from a tropical climate in Florida … and landing in Japan with such cold weather has affected me. I only have a fever, but I am sure I will be able to fight.” It was only in the hours leading up to the weigh-in that trainer Rodrigo Calabrese came clean and disclosed the seriousness of the situation. “We regret to inform you that Fernando tested
Fernando Martinez takes a right cross en route to outpointing Japanese legend Kazuto Ioka last July.
87
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online