Taking over the super flyweight division, Joshua Franco has competed in challenging bouts over the last few years. His resume includes multiple rivalries with some controversial results.
The 27-year-old continues his run of facing the same opponent multiple times when he takes on Kazuto Ioka for the WBA super flyweight title on June 24. A rematch from their New Year's Eve bout in 2022, it's inside the same arena as the first fight: the Ota-City General Gymnasium.
Born in San Antonio, "El Profesor" and Ioka went back and forth for 12 rounds for the WBA and WBO belts. Both unsatisfied with the result, the rematch will determine who the best in the division is, something Franco has worked hard to become.
The Sporting News looks into the career of Franco, from where he started to his recent efforts against familiar opponents.
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What titles has Joshua Franco won?
Franco has held the NABA bantamweight and WBA super flyweight titles.
He has held the WBA title since 2020.
What is Joshua Franco's boxing record?
A silver medalist in the 2014 National Championships, Franco has an 18-1-3 record, with eight wins via knockout.
The 27-year-old turned pro in 2017 and had a 13-fight win streak snapped against Lucas Fernandez in 2018. Franco competed in a trilogy against Oscar Negrete from 2018-2019 for the bantamweight title, going 1-0-2. Their first bout in 2018 went to a draw, he beat Negrete in April 2019 via split decision, and the two fought to another draw in August of that year.
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Following a win against Jose Alejandro Burgos in January 2020, Franco competed in another trilogy, this time against Andrew Moloney for the WBA super flyweight title from 2020-2021. The orthodox fighter beat Moloney in the first bout in June 2020, and they fought to a no-contest that November, which followed a 20-minute instant replay review of a reported headbutt — a process that got ridiculed by the boxing community. Franco beat Moloney in the third bout in August 2021 via unanimous decision.
Following that series, he faced Ioka, which ended in a majority decision draw for the WBA and WBO belts. Ioka vacated the WBO title to fight Franco again instead of facing mandatory challenger Junto Nakatani.
The rematch will be Franco's third series with an opponent (eight fights overall) in nine bouts.