Koki Kameda outboxes Daisuke Naito to claim WBC flyweight title

Bad Left Hook

Koki Kameda put the final stamp on a busy, eventful and exciting weekend of boxing by defeating rival Daisuke Naito in Saitama, Japan, taking Naito's WBC flyweight title, staying undefeated, and almost surely silencing some of his critics.

Kameda (22-0, 14 KO) won by unanimous decision. Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-112 for the young challenger, who used speed, accurate punching, and boxing class to topple Naito.

For Naito (35-3-3, 22 KO), this was no big time fall from grace. In fact, Naito looked no older today than he has in his other recent fights. At 35, he's slowing down. That's natural. But he's still a world-class fighter at 112 pounds, and proved that.

This was less a show that Naito was too old than it was a passing of the torch in a lot of ways. Kameda is the real deal. His counter punching was outstanding, he stayed controlled the entire fight, and unlike the ferocious killer Kameda we've seen before, he recognized that Naito wasn't one of those slugs he'd sparked in the past. Despite any out of the ring trash talk, Kameda clearly respected Naito as a fighter.

It's a terrific win for Kameda, as it fully legitimizes him on the world stage. For my money, there really isn't a better flyweight out there. I think with his youth, speed, power, and the fact that he's going to get better, he's a step ahead of the rest of the division right now. It's nothing against fighters like Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Denkaosan Kaovichit or Omar Narvaez, it's just that those guys are in their mid-30s. Kameda's an explosive fighter who coasted through 12 rounds of a fight that wasn't easy. His conditioning was superb.

By the end of the bout, Naito was tired, his nose appeared broken, and he had clearly been in a fight. Kameda barely looked any different than when he hit the ring to the sweet, sweet sounds of Survivor's "Burning Heart."

This wraps up what was an abnormally ridiculous weekend for us at BLH. We covered six cards in three days, plus watched the main event of a seventh (Molina-Honorio on Shobox). It was fun.

Some personal highlights for me from this weekend's massive slate of shows:

•Anthony Small's ludicrously bad fight with Thomas McDonagh on Friday was highlighted, in my view, by one of the many moments that neither man was throwing a punch, much less landing one. It came when Small, doing one of his "look at me entertain!" dance numbers, tripped on the ring apron, and during his fall, mule kicked the ring bell. Falling down is embarrassing enough. Falling down and kicking the bell, which makes a noise everyone hears, is truly hilarious.

•Lennox Lewis referring to Ali Funeka's tough luck on his second trip to America. The fight was in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

•Barry McGuigan's overbearing fascination with Yassine El Maachi (11-4, 5 KO). To hear McGuigan tell it, we're looking at Prince Naseem mixed with Roy Jones Jr.

•This quote from Lucian Bute, after he knocked out Librado Andrade: "Librado Andrade is a great person. He’s a great fighter and he will stay my friend for life."

•The atmosphere at Saitama Super Arena. There are all kinds of "great atmosphere" for a big fight, but the energy from a Japanese fight or puroresu crowd is so much different than in other parts of the world.

Source: badlefthook.com

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Naito-Kameda encounter

By Joe Koizumi, FightNews

The day has come. WBC flyweight champ Daisuke Naito (36-2-3, 22 KOs), Japan, will risk his prestigious belt against unbeaten compatriot Koki Kameda (21-0, 14 KOs) today (Sunday) in Saitama (the adjacent prefecture to Tokyo), Japan. Some 20,000 people are expected to be in attendance at the Saitama Super Arena.

The weigh-in ceremony took place yesterday at the Koreakuen Hall, where both Naito and Kameda tipped the beam at the 112-pound class limit.

This is a sort of Battle of Ages, since Naito is a 35-year-old warrior making his sixth defense, while Kameda, ex-WBA 108-pound ruler, is a still upcoming youngster, twelve years his junior at 23. The modest and soft-spoken champ is loved by everybody, while the arrogant young man’s flamboyance is hated by a great many fight fans and the general public as well. Kameda’s lack of humbleness and politeness (which are so important in this country) caused peoples’ hatred against him.

A majority of Japanese people hope Naito to win, but the fight itself seems so competitive that it may be very hard to pick up the winner before their long-anticipated encounter. The old champ lately showed his apparent wear-and-tear and decline, scoring a come-from-behind tenth-round stoppage of Tomonobu Shimizu and a hairline victory over unknown and neglected Chinese Xiong Zhao Zhong. Naito was disappointingly floored by Xiong’s roundhouse right hook when losing his equilibrium in a very tough defense this May.

The young and fresh southpaw Kameda also has a problem. He has fought just eight times in three years since he renounced the WBA light flyweight belt after keeping it against Venezuelan Juan Landaeta in December 2006. It was a grudge fight, as Kameda badly hit the deck and very barely earned a controversial decision to acquire the vacant WBA throne five months earlier. So plenty of television watchers saw Kameda lose that they made tremendously many protesting calls to TBS TV and the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC). But Kameda, in their rematch, utilized his previously unseen footwork to clearly outscore the puzzed lefty Landaeta.

Naito is well-known by his unorthodox way of fighting, ducking low, sidestepping awkwardly and throwing punches from unpredictable angles. Naito, however, has recently forfeited his potential trickiness to be simply an old soldier. We cannot see how strong Kameda is, as he hasn’t fought any competitive opponents. Busily moving between Japan and Mexico, Kameda reportedly keeps training and improving, but his improvement hasn’t been proven as he easily defeated only over matched opponents such as Irfan Ogah, Salvador Montes, Humberto Pool, et al.

It will be telecast nationwide in Japan tonight, as the public pay attentions to this sensational contest presented by Miyata Promotions.

Source: fightnews.com

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Daisuke Naito to defend WBC flyweight title against bad boy Kameda

By Jim Armstrong, Canadian Press

TOKYO — Daisuke Naito's WBC flyweight title fight against Koki Kameda on Sunday is being billed in Japan as "The Battle of Destiny," although the battle of good versus evil might be more fitting.

The humble Naito will be the popular favourite when he steps into the ring at Saitama Super Arena against the brash 23-year-old Kameda, who has been widely criticized for his flamboyance, immaturity and lack of respect both inside and outside the ring.

Ever since a win over Koki's brother Daiki two years ago, Naito has become a celebrity in Japan, regularly appearing on TV shows where his soft-spoken demeanour and humble personality has won over fans. Call him the Manny Pacquiao of Japan.

The 35-year-old Naito took up boxing to defend himself in school, where he was the victim of bullying, and often speaks out in support of those subjected to similar abuse.

He claimed the title by defeating Thailand's Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in 2007, five years after his first world title shot against the same opponent. Naito had retained it through five subsequent bouts.

"I've put in a lot of training," Naito said. "At 35, you do worry about losing a bit of stamina but I'm in great shape and am psychologically sharper than he is."

Kameda, along with his brother Daiki, have established a reputation for arrogance. Forgoing the niceties of the Japanese language, Kameda taunts his opponents with insults and bold predictions. True to form, he was confident about his chances against Naito earlier this week.

"I hope to knock him out," Kameda said. "It's been a long time since I felt this confident and I can't wait for the fight to begin."

The undefeated Kameda is making his first attempt at a major world title.

Despite getting knocked down in the first round and being dominated in the final two rounds, Kameda came away with a split decision against Venezuela's Juan Jose Landaeta in August 2006 to claim the WBA light flyweight belt.

The Japanese TV station that broadcast the fight received over 50,000 calls complaining about the outcome.

The bad blood between Naito and Kameda goes back several years. Naito defeated Koki's younger brother Daiki by unanimous decision for the first defence of his WBC title in October 2007. Naito outclassed the younger Kameda despite being fouled throughout the fight.

The matchup deteriorated into a free-for-all with Daiki Kameda at one point lifting Naito up by his waist and slamming him to the mat. Fans were shocked by Kameda's behaviour and outraged when it was revealed that Koki advised his brother to elbow Naito's eye.

Before the bout, Daiki described Naito as a "cockroach" and stated that he would commit hara-kiri (ritual suicide) if he were to lose.

The Kamedas made a tearful apology after the fight but Daiki's boxer's licence was suspended by the Japan Boxing Commission for one year for professional misconduct.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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