Japan's Kazuto Ioka has vacated the World Boxing Organization super flyweight title, the WBO announced Friday, paving the way for a rematch with World Boxing Association champion Joshua Franco of the United States.

The WBO had ordered the 33-year-old Ioka to arrange a mandatory title defense against countryman Junto Nakatani, but the veteran opted to sign up for another battle with Franco on home turf instead, according to ESPN and other outlets.

Ioka and Franco fought to a draw in their title unification bout at Tokyo's Ota City General Gymnasium on New Year's Eve, with two of the three judges scoring the contest 114-114 and the other favoring the American 115-113.

WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (R) of Japan and WBA titleholder Joshua Franco of the United States have their arms raised by the referee after their title unification boxing match ended in a draw on Dec. 31, 2022, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The result left Ioka with a 29-2-1 record including 15 wins by knockout.

Nakatani (24-0, 18 KOs) will fight Andrew Moloney of Australia for the vacant WBO super flyweight belt. The Japanese fighter previously vacated the WBO flyweight title to move up a weight class.

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