Koki Kameda has more to fight for than meets the eye, when he takes on America’s Cesar Lopez at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday (28th July).
The young Japanese star, who recently vacated his WBA junior flyweight crown, is poised for huge fights with domestic rivals Takefumi Sakata – holder of the WBA flyweight belt – and Daisuke Naito – the new WBC king.
Only 20-years-old, Kameda is already a high profile figure thanks to his volatile personality and aggressive fighting style that make him a headliner even in fights as seemingly routine as this weekend’s.
He’s a major talent. In his first fight with the world class Juan Jose Landaeta, the youngster overcame an early knockdown and survived a late beating to claim the vacant WBA belt thanks to his wilful aggression. In the rematch, he proved he could adapt, using a smart counterpunching approach to befuddle a man who’d troubled him so much, en route to a wide win.
27-year-old Lopez (24-4 4 KOs), who’s lost three of his last four – including a defeat to Glenn Donaire – doesn’t have world-class credentials. But with long time WBC king Pongsaklek Wonjongkam beaten in a big upset by Naito last week, no opponent can be overlooked.
Only last April, tough Mexican Edgar Sosa caused a bit of an upset, out-slugging talented Hawaiian Brian Viloria in one of the most remarkable fights of the year. Sosa had five losses on his ledger, and it looked like he’d learned from each of them in picking up the vacant WBC junior flyweight belt.
However, those losses came early in the career of Sosa, who defends his new WBC belt against Luis Alberto Lazarte in Mexico, also on Saturday July 28th. Three-quarters of Lopez’s have been in the last two years – a bad omen for him against the biggest name in Asian boxing.
Since the two Landaeta fights back-to-back in 2006, the 15-0 (11 KOs) southpaw Kameda has been in undemanding fights, to settle back into the bigger flyweight division and polish off his skills. He was dominant against Everardo Morales last March, though he couldn’t put him away, and followed up with an eighth round TKO of Irfan Ogah two months later.
But Ogah was moving up a weight, coming off a loss and inexperienced (he’s only had five total bouts).
Busy and improving, Koki has excellent potential and it’d be a surprise if he were to lose. Soon, it will be time for him to step up again, and if past results are a measure he’ll go very far indeed.
The next big fight – against Sakata – is a possibility for October, according to the WBA’s website. Though Koki had doubts about facing the WBA flyweight champ – they are Kyoei Boxing Gym stablemates – his dad Shiro has apparently overruled him.
Meanwhile, Naito and Wonjongkam should be free to resume their rivalry – despite losing the last one in a disappointing performance, Wonjongkam, 29, won their previous two encounters.
Thus, the scene is set for what could be an epic encounter between Kameda and Sakata, which could go ahead in October. A loss in focus would be a serious setback, with so much ahead.
Sakata, like Kameda, is a busy and exciting fighter and at 27 has come into his prime after graduating from a supremely tough learning curve (a draw with Naito for the Japanese title, two majority decision losses to the remarkable Parra, a controversial split decision to Vasquez, an early stoppage of a weight weakened Parra and an exciting decision over Vasquez to win his first world crown).
Can’t wait.
