August 02, 2006
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
Unbeaten 19-year-old Japanese southpaw Koki Kameda (12-0, 10 KOs), 108, acquired the vacant WBA light flyweight belt with his best effort as he came off the canvas in the first round, maintained his aggressiveness from the second on and pounded out a hard-fought split decision over Venezuelan veteran Juan Jose Landaeta (20-4-1, 16 KOs), 107.75, over twelve hot rounds on Wednesday in Yokohama, Japan.
The official tallies were as follows: Daniel Talon (France) 114-113, Kwangsoo Kim (Korea) 115-113, both for Kameda, and Gustavo Padilla (Panama) 115-112 for Landaeta. It was a very good give-and-take affair between the southpaws.
Kameda made a good start by landing good shots to Landaeta in the close range. But the Venezuelan connected with a southpaw right hook following a solid left, dropping the Japanese prospect to the deck in the closing seconds of the first. Kameda managed to pull himself up and resumed fighting with rubbery-legs with the bell coming to his rescue.
Kameda was in command in the second and third, as he kept going forward to land solid body shots and good straight lefts to the face of the handsome Venezuelan. Landaeta, in the fourth, effectively shook him up with a barrage of punches, though Kameda almost dominated the round by making good use of right jabs.
The sensational youngster took the fifth through eighth as he utilized right leads and one-two combinations to Landaeta, who still mixed up with the aggressive opponent without retreating. The seventh saw Landaeta once rock him with a southpaw one-two to the face of Kameda, who roared like a lion to show his fighting spirit. Kameda sustained a cut over the right eyebrow caused by Landaeta’s legal shot in the sixth.
Kameda, in the ninth, kept attacking with heavier straight lefts, but Landaeta turned loose and displayed his furious retaliation with busy combinations. In the tenth Kameda fought back hard with versatile right leads and kept going forward to hurt the Venezuelan.
Landaeta, in the eleventh, caught Kameda with a flurry of punches, and the Japanese desperately grabbed the Venezuelan to overcome the crisis. Kameda’s previous high pace and fatigue thereafter had him slowing down, and he looked quite groggy as if Landaeta would finish the affair then and there to take the belt to Venezuela. Kameda had a very narrow escape.
The Venezuelan also dominated the twelfth and final session, when Kameda looked too tired and slow to positively attack Landaeta though he occasionally threw less accurate punches in combination. The Venezuelan had a good chance to finish Kameda, but he was also so fading that he failed to score a coup-de-grace.
It was a close affair with Landaeta flooring him in the first and obviously dominating the last two rounds but Kameda being continually in command in middle sessions. Some people jeered the decision because they thought Landaeta’s combinations were more effective due to their impression on the Venezuelan’s power shown in scoring a knockdown in the opening canto. But others evaluated Kameda’s continual aggressiveness and superiority in the number of his more punches than those of Landaeta.
It was a remarkable achievement that the 19-year-old kid seized the world championship in his twelfth pro bout, following a footstep of Fighting Harada and Hiroki Ioka, both of whom won the world throne prior to their 20-year-old birthday. It was witnessed by some 15,000 spectators in attendance as well as great many TV watchers. Kameda will move up back to the flyweight class, but he may defend this precious crown once or twice before renouncing it due to the weight problem. It was a sensational fistic night, which certainly had the popularity of boxing rebound here.
Promoter: Kyoei Promotions with the cooperation of Teiken Promotions.
WBA witness: Noah Reandeau.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(8-2-06)