Koki Kameda: The New WBA Light Flyweight World Champion
Japan’s favorite boxer, Koki Kameda, fought Venezuelan Jose Landaeta in Yokohama tonight. Kameda got knocked down in the first round, but he fought rather well in the other rounds, ultimately winning by decision after 12 rounds. Here are a few clips I recorded of the broadcast:
Here we have Kameda entering the ring with dramatic Rocky-tastic music. How dramatic!
Next we have 12 rounds of rather uneventful boxing, with no obvious winner. (While Koki Kameda got knocked over in the first round, and seemed to be doing very poorly in the last couple rounds, decisions take ALL the the rounds into account when deciding the final points.)
Anyway, here’s the last few seconds of the fight, followed by the dramatic wait for the announcement of the winner. When he finds out he has won, he bursts into tears! After being he is given the belt and hugs his father, sumo yokozuna Asashoryu pops out of nowhere and starts holding him up in the air. It is a proud day for the Kameda family.
Kameda remains undefeated. Kameda and his brothers are out to get as many belts and medals as they can. Their next big goal: an Olympic gold medal.
Update: Here’s what some people on other sites are saying:
Did anyone watch this fight? I watched it live on TV here in Japan and I have to say…BULL&%$#! How in the world (Besides the obvious reason…$$$$ to the judges) did Kameda win this by split decision? The guy gets knocked down in the 1st round and had wobbly knees from 10th round on. With the exception of a few spurts, most of them landing on Landaeta’s gloves, Kameda was throwing baby taps all match yet he wins??? I’m not a Landaeta fan nor do I dislike Kameda. I just wanted to watch a good fight with fair results. At this rate we might as well use figure skating judges to work boxing matches here on in. Pathetic, people, pathetic!!!!!
-arrowsno13 at saddoxboxing
Over at FightOpinion.com:
The reaction of Kameda’s split decision win drew criticism from hardcore Japanese fight fans. Yahoo Japan has an online poll asking Japanese fans for their reaction towards Kameda winning by decision and whether or not the decision was right.
The results of the Yahoo Japan poll (as of 10:15 AM EST w/ nearly 80,000 votes):
* Kameda won – 4%
* Landaeta won – 95%
* A tie – 1%
And:
I also live in Japan and I recorded the fight to watch after work. All I have to say is: this decision is complete @!##!$% rubbish! I’m not a big Kameda fan (because of that stupid bad boy look on his face all the darn time). The only way to get an honest decision in Japan will be to take his head clean off. I’ve seen his last three 3 fights, including this one. This was his worst performance of the 3. I’m waiting for him to fight someone real tough.
-gguys at saddoxboxing
Update 2: A fancy little image being circulated on Japanese forums…
