October 17, 2015
CHICAGO, IL
hould you bet your money, which do you prefer a 33-1 challenger or a 30-8-1 champ? The younger challenger, 28, was formerly a three-class titleholder aiming to win his fourth belt, while the 34-year-old champ once suffered three losses in a row but abruptly improved after celebrating his 32-year-old birthday. The odds were logically 9-1 in the challenger's favor at first but became a little closer to 6-1 before the game. Anything can happen in the ring, and the underdog Kohei Kono (31-8-1, 13 KOs), 114.8, impressively retained his WBA 115-pound belt as he decisively kept battering the prohibitive favorite and mandatory contender Koki Kameda (33-2, 18 KOs), 115, to pound out a unanimous decision over twelve fast non-stop rounds on Friday in Chicago, IL.
Glenn Feldman saw the hot affair 116-108, William Lerch had it 115-109, and Robert Hoyle tallied a closest score 113-111, all in favor of the busy-punching and energetic workman Kono. The third man was Celestino Ruiz, and all the officials were of the US.
In short, it's an upset game. The unheralded underdog Kono, making his second defense, impressively took the initiative and had the upper hand almost all the way, though Kameda made a good start with aggressive body shots to win a first point in the opening session.
The second saw an unexpected drama, when Kameda attempted to maintain the pressure and landed an apparently low blow to Kono, who, in pain, took a knee in a corner. The champ stayed there for minutes, and just after they resumed fighting, Kono had Kameda on the deck with a solid right. The ref Ruiz took a mandatory eight count against the bewildered three-time champ Kameda. It was a 10-8 round for Kono, who seemed greatly inspired and encouraged by scoring an important lead on points.
Another happening took place in the third session, when the third man strictly deducted a point twice from the challenger for Kameda's holding and then for his punch under the belt again. Kono obviously dominated the round, and fortunately gained five points only in the second and third sessions.
The champ with a Pacquiao-like mustache, thanks to his good accumulation on points, turned more positive and rhythmical enough to keep punching with busy combinations and triple rights to the puffed face of Kameda, who looked like an actor that was forced to follow an unfavorable scenario for him.
The fifth was given to Kameda by all the judges, but it was such a close round that the champ Kono began to stick and move to frustrate the southpaw challenger and didn't apparently allow the tide to turn then and there.
It was Kono that was in command in the sixth through eighth sessions as he kept throwing good jabs, connected with solid rights to the less aggressive ex-champ and occasionally pinned him to the ropes with a fusillade of punches. Kameda fought back in the close quarter, but questionably failed to utilize his trade-mark footwork and stuck to mixing it up with the busier champ.
Kameda, in round nine, had his best moment when he connected with a solid southpaw left that shook up the bewildered champ, who was later penalized a point due to pulling his foe's head down and then hitting him. Kono's heart and pride withstood Kameda's desperate retaliation.
His face swollen, Kameda was expected to show his last surge to turn the tables, but it was Kono that accelerated his attacks and swept the last three sessions with his abundant stamina and volume of punches. The tenth was a most furious round of the game contestants, but Kono obviously outhustled and outpunched the fading foe with his effective combinations upstairs and downstairs. Kameda's overconfidence eventually paid off.
The crowd, mostly people residing in Chicago, praised the total war by the small men as they enjoyed watching them swapping punches incessantly in every round.
After a career-best victory Kono said, “I thought Kameda would use his footwork and tried to outbox me, but he came to exchange punches from the start. He might underestimate my real power, which fired my determination and fighting spirit as well. I did a do-or-die attack to beat him decisively. I've devoted all myself to this fight and I really appreciate my supporters (nearly fifty) having come to watch me fight Kameda.”
Kameda, before many Japanese press people in the dressing room after the fight, called it quits. “Regardless of victory or defeat, I was thinking of my retirement from the ring. It's now to hang up gloves for good. Having won three belts in as many classes showed I had a good career. I think my last (with Kono) was a good fight. I wish to lead another life after boxing.” Koki hopes to be a businessman based on his reputation, whether you may like him or not. He seemed to have already lost his motivation to fight on, and it might be a good timing to leave the ring.
Kameda's farewell to the squared circle was reported big in Japanese papers since he has been a household name despite his notoriety.
The goddess of victory smiled on a diligent and silent workman named Kohei Kono over a flamboyant and eloquent star named Koki Kameda. Both have same initials of KK, but their personality is quite different each other. Colorful versus plain such as Max Baer versus Jim Braddock. Our people in Japan only know about Chicago that it was a battlefield between Al Capone and Eliot Ness in the Roaring Twenties due to a movie titled “The Untouchable”, where a couple of Japanese boys displayed such a hot war as they, both touchable, exchanged good punishment.
Promoter: Lee Margules' Warriors Promotions.
WBA supervisor: Matt Podgorski (US).
(10-17-2015)