December 20, 2006
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBA light-flyweight champ, unbeaten Koki Kameda (13-0, 10 KOs), 107.75, successfully kept his belt by winning a unanimous decision over top ranked Venezuelan Juan Jose Landaeta (20-5-1, 16 KOs), 108, over twelve heats on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan. The southpaw Kameda kept circling to counter the lefty challenger with solid overhand lefts, piling up points steadily.
The official scorecards were as follows: Stanley Christodoulou (South Africa) 116-111, Terry OfConnor (England) 115-113 and Raul Caiz Jr. (US) 119-108, all in favor of the defending champ. The referee was Luis Pabon (Puerto Rico).
It might seem strange that a judge gave all rounds to Kameda (with a one-point penalty), while another judge tallied a just two-point difference between them. But either view might make sense since Landaeta seldom landed any telling blows while Kameda kept circling to avert almost all punches and occasionally scored with a few left crosses. Had you evaluated the champfs few but solid shots, it might be Kamedafs point. If you favored the challengerfs less accurate but more punches, it might be Landaetafs point. In some rounds Kameda won a point like Willie Pep as he had Landaeta missing all and landed only one or two effective blows.
Kameda amazingly changed his style from peek-a-boo to hit-and-run in this game, and looked like a young Floyd Mayweather, fully utilizing his superior speed on hand and foot. The 20-year-old champ simply moved and punched too fast and Landaeta, 28, had to keep stalking the Fancy Dan only to take some good counters from the slick-punching youngster.
It was a rematch of the southpaws following a controversial split decision for Kameda last August. Probably Landaeta believed in his victory in their first encounter, so he might think that he need not change his strategy. Kameda, on the contrary, deeply studied the highly disputed first game, and then changed his style to outspeed Landaeta with his fast footwork and quick counters. It paid off well.
Kameda, in the first four rounds, appeared only content to keep moving around like a young Cassius Clay and occasionally displayed an Ali shuffle. Baby Landaeta threw southpaw jabs and combinations, all of which couldnft catch the elusive target. But Kameda threw only a few right hooks and straight lefts with precision, taking the initiative.
The clever champ felt out that Landaeta only prepared the same strategy as previously, and began to sometimes turn aggressive from the fifth. Kameda easily connected with good counters to the monotonously onrushing Venezuelan. Landaeta obviously looked bewildered and surprised with Kamedafs quite different way of fighting from that in their first. Occasionally rotating his arm like a windmill or irritating him with a gcome onh gesture, Kameda actually toyed with the nervous Landaeta. The Venezuelan appeared to be at a loss, wondering how to cope with the little lefty Mayweather. Kameda was in command in the fifth through eighth sessions.
Encouraged by his cornermen Rafael Liendo and Manny Siaca, Landaeta, in round nine, desperately became more aggressive and went forward to pin the fast-moving champ to the ropes, to no avail, though taking a point.
Kameda, in round ten, turned loose as he nailed the Venezuelan to the ropes with a flurry of punches. Landaeta attempted to fight back with busy combos, just hitting the air. The champfs direct lefts without right leads often caught Landaeta to win another point in the eleventh.
In the twelfth and final stanza the ref Pabon penalized a point for Kamedafs headbutt when he went boring in to mix it up with the the fading foe. The champfs occasional left shots seemed more effective than Landaetafs less accurate combinations. Though Kameda failed to respond to the crowdfs expectation to see his KO victory, he showed his talent, quick reflexes and superior power punching.
Landaeta, a crestfallen loser, said, gKameda changed his style, which surprised me very much. I couldnft land as many punches to him as in the previous bout. I accept the official verdict, but I believed I took some points.h Kameda jubilantly said, gThough many people said something to criticize my previous performance against Landaeta, I think I clearly won this rematch.h
Even anti-Kameda fans might realize his vast talent in flexibly changing his pace even during a round. Kameda is still twenty years of age. He will improve more. Event though we cannot predict his three-class coronation, as he talks big, we see he will become a good champion as he scores more defenses.
Unbeaten younger brother of Koki, WBC#26 super-fly Daiki Kameda (7-0, 5 KOs), 113.25, needed just 37 seconds in the first round to dispatch Indonesian old soldier Mohamad Sadik, 112.5, in a scheduled ten. Japanese #2 middle Fukutaro Ujiie (10-4-1, 5 KOs), 160, battered #9 Command Kishimoto (6-2, 6 KOs), 160, at 2:39 of the fifth round.
Promoter: Kyoei Promotions.
WBA supervisor: George Martinez (US).
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
(12-20-06)