Kazuto Ioka vs Joshua Franco Odds, Preview and Prediction

• Kazuto Ioka vs Joshua Franco goes Saturday, December 31st at 5 AM EST
• Ioka is the favorite in this end-of-the-year barnburner
• Check out the Ioka vs Franco odds, analysis, and predictions, below

Kazuto Ioka vs Joshua Franco goes down at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday.  The former is just short of a two-to-one favorite over the latter in the Ioka vs Franco betting odds, priced at -170.

Let’s analyze the Ioka vs Franco odds as we provide our best bet for the bout.

Kazuto Ioka vs Joshua Franco Odds

Odds as of December 28th via DraftKings Sportsbook. 

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This is a title unification bout as the WBA and WBO junior bantamweight world titles are on the line with Franco and Ioka holding each strap, respectively.

Kazuto Ioka’s Betting Outlook vs Franco

Ioka is a four-weight division world champion and looks to punch his ticket towards eventually cementing himself as the undisputed champion in this weight category if he gets his idealized outcome this weekend.

As the dust has seemingly settled on the Estrada vs Chocolatito series for now at least, the winner of Saturday’s fight has an intriguing dance partner that could await them in 2023.

He has defended this WBO belt five times and Ioka will be the partisan favorite for the Tokyo, Japan crowd in this next clash.

This is Ioka’s eleventh time fighting on New Year’s Eve which has a rich annual tradition of combat sports to close out the year. Many eyes will be on this fight domestically as NYE fights receive a certain level of viewership/ advertiser focus comparable to the Super Bowl for North Americans.

Ioka vs Franco Recent Fights

This is Ioka’s 23rd world title fight and his experience edge looms largely over this one. Although the edges of relative youth and an impressive enough resume make this line a closer one for Franco.

Joshua Franco’s Betting Outlook vs Ioka

Franco looks to make the third defense of his WBA belt. It has been over a year since he last competed and Franco has a great chance of vaulting himself to the top of 115 pounds and legitimizing himself here even more in the eyes of many.

He will be taking on his first new opponent in nearly three years after a trilogy of consecutive fights against Andrew Moloney. Before that, sans one in-between fight, Franco also had another trifecta of clashes against Oscar Negrete between 2018 and 2019.

These 115-pounders have shown a capable level of punching power as lighter-weight fighters.

That being said, I think the fight IQ and supreme technical skill of both of these fighters will lead to a bout that will be determined by the verdict of the ringside judges.

Ioka vs Franco Tale of the Tape

Ioka vs Franco Prediction

This prizefight is scheduled for twelve rounds and I forsee this one encroaching on that final bell.

I see value in pursuing prop bets on this fight not going the distance (-425) and Ioka winning via points/ decision (-105).

Pick: Kazuto Ioka (-170)