MANILA – Negrense boxer Aston Palicte will have another shot at a world championship when he battles Japanese Kazuto Ioka for the WBO world super flyweight belt on June 19 in Japan.
The world championship become up for grabs for Palicte and Ioka after Negrense boxer Donnie Nietes decided to vacate the title belt just months after winning it over Ioka in Macau, China.
Palicte’s chief handler Jason Soong confirmed that they have already reached agreement with the camp of Ioka to set the world title clash, which could be held either at Osaka or Chiba.
The Bago City native earned the right to challenge for the super flyweight world title after scoring a stoppage victory over Mexican Jose Martinez during the title eliminator match last January.
Palicte initially wanted to have a rematch with the Murcia native Nietes for the world title but both camps failed to reach an agreement and the latter decided to just give up the belt.
The 28-year-old Palicte will enter the ring with 25-2-1 win-loss-draw ring record, with 21 stoppage victories, while the 30-year-old Ioka has 23-2-0 card, with 13 knockout victories./PN
