Japan’s Koki Kameda pulled off a technical knockout victory over Daniel Diaz of Nicaragua to defend his WBA bantamweight title on Saturday. Kameda, who sent the challenger to the canvas with a left hook in the eighth round, was declared as the winner when the referee stopped the fight before the final 12th round.
“It’s been my dream to fight a world title match in my home town in Osaka. It’s a great feeling to win it by a knockout,” said Kameda, 24. “I strained myself but I tried to fight with a strong feeling to win rather than by my technique or luck. I’m really happy that I won it by a knockout. “This is my first chapter of my boxing history. I will face tougher fights in the future. But I think the support from Osaka people will help me a lot,” added Kameda.
It was Kameda’s first defence since he won the vacant title, beating Alexander Munoz of Venezuela in December last year and stretched his record to 25 wins, including 16 KOs, against one defeat. Diaz, 27 and ranked 14th in the WBA, saw his record reduced to 18 wins, including 13 KOs, against three defeats. Kameda is the eldest of three boxing brothers, all of whom have bad-boy images in the media and among boxing fans.
His younger brother Daiki was suspended from boxing for a year after his failed title bid against then WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito in October 2007, for using dirty tactics including wrestling the veteran champion to the canvas. Koki Kameda was reprimanded by the Japan Boxing Commission for urging his brother to fight dirty.
Their father, Shiro Kameda, has been barred by the WBC from serving as a cornerman for abusing match officials and has been slapped with a life ban by Japan’s boxing authority.
