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Kōki Kameda
Born	Kōki Kameda (1986-11-17) November 17, 1986 (age 38) Osaka, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Other names	Naniwa no Touken (Pitbull of Osaka)
Statistics
Weight(s)	Light flyweight
Stance	Unorthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	17
Wins	17
Wins by KO	11
Losses	0
Draws	0

Kōki Kameda (亀田 興毅, Kameda Kōki, born November 17 1986 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese professional boxer in the flyweight division. He is the oldest of the three Kameda brothers. His younger brother, Daiki Kameda, is a professional boxer in the super flyweight division, and the youngest brother, Tomoki, is also training to become a professional boxer. Kameda is the former WBA light flyweight champion. He gave up the title shortly after defending it once to move up to the flyweight division. He has an undefeated record of 17-0-0 (11 KOs).

Family

Kameda and his two brothers are by far the most well known boxers in Japan. Their father began training them when they were young, and Kōki Kameda was featured in a television series after winning several amateur tournaments. His brother, Daiki has turned professional, and just recently lost to WBC Flyweight title holder, Daisuke Naito. Kameda's youngest brother, Tomoki, had been training for the Beijing Olympics, but was told he was too young to qualify for the Olympics. While growing up in Osaka, they trained at the Green Tsunuda gym, which also produced former WBC minimumweight title holder and former WBA interim minimumweight title holder, Katsunari Takayama, who also happens to be a critic of the Kameda brothers.

Back in 2000 when Kameda was only 14 years old, Kameda managed to get some national attention by taking on former two time division world champion, Hiroki Ioka, in a 2 round exhibition match. Ioka was the inaugural WBC minimumweight champion and was also the former WBA lightflyweight champion, a title which Kameda himself would controversially win in August of 2006. Kameda at first was believed to have got a first round knockdown on the former champion by landing a left straight and a right hook, but the referee ruled it as a slip. Kameda throughout the exhibition bout, would try to go for a knockout. However, the fight went the distance and this would jump start Kameda by going all out on the former champion.

Title bout vs. Landaeta

On August 2, 2006, in his first attempt for the world title, Kameda squared off with Juan Jose Landaeta of Venezuela in Yokohama, Japan, for the World Boxing Association light flyweight title. The fight was rather controversial as Kameda won the fight in a split decision despite getting knocked down in the first round and being dominated in the final two rounds. Further fueling controversy was the fact that the Korean judge who scored the fight 114-113 in Kameda's favor gave the final round to Kameda 10-9, although the perception by most observers was that the clearly exhausted Japanese boxer did nothing but tie up his opponent and try to avoid being knocked out in that round. If the Korean judge had scored the final round in favor of Landaeta, the Venezuelan would have won the bout. The match reinforced the existence of a home field advantage and the bias a foreign fighter must face when fighting on Japanese soil.

There were mixed reactions from the Japanese public after the fight. Some 50,000 calls complaining against the decision were made to TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System, the station that broadcasted the fight) to complain about the decision. While some hailed the 19 year old's aggressiveness and impressive technique, others believed Landaeta was obviously the better fighter and exposed Kameda's inexperience and questionable stamina. Despite the controversial nature of the decision, it was a close, bitterly contested bout. Scoring some of the very close earlier rounds for Kameda would give the young fighter the necessary buffer on the scorecards to required to win, despite Landaeta's late charge. Kameda's father and trainer's backlash against the critics went as far as death threats.

Rematch & Defending the Title

On December 20th, 2006, in a highly anticipated rematch, Kameda decisively defeated Juan Jose Landaeta at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan. Kameda employed a rather different boxing style from the one he used back in the title match on August. Kameda outboxed Landaeta for most of the match using his quickness and accuracy, and won by unanimous decision.

Kameda returned his light flyweight title to move up to the flyweight division on January 22, 2007,

Criticism

Kameda is often criticized for his flamboyance, immaturity, and lack of respect both inside and outside the ring. He has never spoken courteously towards anyone in his numerous TV appearances, (considering that the Japanese language has tenses specifically used for courteous speech) and often taunts opponents with insulting presents and language. Criticism also revolves around his boxing skills and sportsmanship. The fact that Kameda's first six opponents had a combined record of 0-18 brought much criticism during the early part of his professional career. Many Japanese boxers, including former WBC Super flyweight champion Masamori Tokuyama and WBC Minimumweight title Eagle Kyowa, have stated that they could easily defeat Kameda if given a chance, and that his boasting and popularity are greatly out of proportion with his actual skills in the ring.

There was an outcry from the Japanese public about his first bout against Landaeta being fixed. Former world champions Guts Ishimatsu and Yasuei Yakushiji have commented that they believe Kameda lost the fight.

He was also involved in the controversy surrounding his brother Daiki during his fight with Daisuke Naito. Kouki escaped with a warning about advising Daiki to elbow Naito in the eye. His brother was suspended from fighting for one year and his father was suspended indefinitely for the incident.

It was originally rumored and intended that Kameda would fight then WBC Light Flyweight title holder, Brian Viloria, in a WBA/WBC unification title fight. However, Kameda's controversial decision over Landaeta in the first match and Viloria losing to Omar Nino made the match difficult to produce further talks. However, boxing fans in the Pacific Rim and Asian American boxing fans (specifically in the Japanese and Filipino communities) still want to see the Kameda brothers fight Brian Viloria or IBF flyweight title holder, Nonito Donaire. Filipino boxing fans are strongly confident that Donaire and/or Viloria or any world class Filipino boxer can easily defeat any of the Kameda brothers. However, due to the popularity and the marketing centering around of heavier weight classes in the U.S., it will be difficult to have these ideal fights appealing to a non-Asian audience.

References

1. JAPAN'S TEENAGE SENSATION KAMEDA TAKES WBA TITLE ON SPLIT DECISION FROM VENEZUELAN VETERAN (fightnightnews.com)
2. Was Kameda vs Landaeta a fix? (Japan Today, August 10, 2006)
3. BOXING: Daiki Kameda banned for year over violence

See also

• List of current world boxing champions
• List of male boxers
• List of WBA world champions

External links

• Boxing record for Kōki Kameda from BoxRec (registration required)

• 1986 births
• Living people
• Junior-flyweights
• Japanese boxers
• Southpaw boxers
• World boxing champions
• World Light flyweight Champions
• WBA Champions
• People from Osaka (city)