## JAPAN UPDATE

## WBA 115LB CHAMP KONO TO COLLIDE WITH KAMEDA IN CHICAGO TOMORROW

October 15, 2015

CHICAGO, IL

Why do a couple of Japanese boxers square off with a world championship on the line in Chicago? WBA super-flyweight champ Kohei Kono (30-8-1, 13 KOs), from Japan, will defend his belt against three-time titlist and compatriot Koki Kameda (33-1, 18 KOs) beneath a competitive confrontation of Andrzej Fonfara and Nathan Cleverly under Warriors Promotions at the UIC Pavilion in the Windy City tomorrow (Friday). The answer is simple and complex: (1) Team Kameda has had some legal problems with the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC), and Kameda brothers haven't been eligible to fight in Japan, (2) The WBA designated Koki Kameda the mandatory challenger to the super-fly titleholder Kohei Kono, (3) Koki entered under the wing of Al Haymon's stable along with his younger brothers Tomoki and Daiki, and (4) Kono, therefore, finally accepted defending his belt against Kameda in a show under the Premier Boxing Champions in the US now that it is practically impossible for Watanabe Promotions to stage it in Japan. That's all. The legal matters between the JBC and Team Kameda may require a great deal of explanations beyond this reporter's capacity.

Let's talk only on boxing which is simple and more interesting than legal sentences. The defending champ Kono had acquired the WBA 115-pound belt twice and is going to keep it for the second time in his second reign. Kono, who looks like Roberto Duran or Manny Pacquiao with well-treated mustache, is a busy-punching fighter who keeps punching from all angles from the beginning to the end. Diligent and determined, Kono, incredibly enough, has recently found a second self as he improved his power and skills after he became thirty years of age, before which he was just an energetically non-stop fighting machine. By upsetting Tepparith Kokietgym via fourth round knockout, Kono impressively captured the WBA throne in December 2012 to earn the Japanese Effort Award that might be very suitable to him. He forfeited it in his first defense with Liborio Solis on a controversial majority decision, but regained it by dispatching ex-champ Denkaosen Kaovichit in eight hard-fought rounds this March. For Kono, this will be his second defense since.

Kameda has been a victim after his family's struggle with the JBC and was forced to be a wandering warrior, fighting abroad since his last fight in Japan in July 2013. For more than two years we haven't seen him fight in his Japanese home turf, but only know that he fought just twice since. Basically Kameda, a shifty southpaw footworker, is a good boxer, having gained three belts in as many categories from the 108-pound division. Having changed his style from an aggressive puncher when young, Kameda is now a strategic counterpuncher based on his fast footwork.

Kameda's ring rust might be a key of this bout, while Kono has been a fighting champion although he took a rest for month after his rib cage injury this summer. Kameda is more skillful with hand speed, while Kono, the defending champ, is more energetic with abundant stamina. It will be a competitive fight, the outcome of which will depend on their respective strategy. Kono will have a possibility of overpowering him, or Kameda of outmaneuvering him. Time will tell tomorrow.

(10-15-2015)

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