Tomoki Kameda (born July 12, 1991) is a Japanese professional boxer. He is a former

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

champion, having held the title from 2013 to 2014, and former

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title challenger, having fought for the title in 2019.

Personal life

Tomoki Kameda grew up in a tough area of Osaka, Japan. Tomoki is the brother of

Kōki Kameda is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2015. He is a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA light-flyweight title from 2006 to 2007, the WBC and lineal flyweight titles from 2009 to 2010, and the WBA (Reg ...

and

Daiki Kameda (born January 6, 1989) is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2015. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBA flyweight title from 2010 to 2011, and the IBF super-flyweight title from 2013 to 2014. His br ...

. Their father, Shiro, dreamt that all three sons would grow up to win world titles in boxing. At the age of 15, Tomoki Kameda relocated to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in order to learn from Mexican boxing experts. He is fluent in Spanish.

Nickname

His early nickname in Japan was . It denotes "The Ultimate Weapon of the Kamedas". He later gained a Spanish nickname ''El Mexicanito'' which translates to "The Little Mexican", since he also trains and fights out of

. He has started to earn the respect of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

fans, due to his very aggressive style of fighting.

Amateur career

Kameda had been training for the Beijing Olympics and ran his record to 35-1-1 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After his move to

, he competed in the Guantes de Oro de México. However, he was too young to participate at the Olympic qualifiers. Instead of waiting, Kameda chose to turn pro.

Professional career

WBO bantamweight champion

Kameda made his professional debut against Alejandro Moreno on November 21, 2008, and won the fight by a second-round knockout. He amassed an 27–0 record during the next year, before challenging for the WBO bantamweight title. On May 30, 2013, it was announced that Kameda would challenge the undefeated reigning

bantamweight champion

Paulus Ambunda Paulus Natangwe Ambunda (born 6 August 1980) is a Namibian boxer who participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he held the WBO bantamweight title in 2013, and twice the IBO bantamweight title in 2015 and in 2018. Amateur c ...

. The bantamweight title bout was scheduled as the main event of an August 1, 2013 card that took place at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

, Philippines. Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, Kameda won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 116–112 and 117–111. Kameda made history as the first Japanese boxer to win a WBO title. Kameda faced another Namibian in his first title defense, as he was booked to face the undefeated Immanuel Naidjala. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the Liborio Solis and

unified super flyweight title fight, which took place on December 3, 2013, at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Osaka. Kameda retained the belt by unanimous decision, with scores of 117–111, 118–110 and 119–109. Kameda was booked to make his second title defense against the former two-time WBO bantamweight titleholder Pungluang Sor Singyu. The fight was scheduled for the undercard of the

Canelo Alvarez __NOTOC__ Canelo may refer to: Geography * Canelo, Arizona, a ghost town ** Canelo Ranger Station ** Canelo School * Canelo Hills in Arizona ** Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve, a protected area People * Canelo Álvarez (born 1990; birth name Santos ...

and

Erislandy Lara Erislandy Lara Santoya (born 11 April 1983) is a Cuban-American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA (Regular) middleweight title since 2021. Previously he held various versions ...

middleweight bout, which took place on July 12, 2014, at the

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. This bout represented Kameda's United States and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

debut. Kameda won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout. He sent Singyu to the canvas with a left hook to the liver, which left the former champion unable to beat the ten-count. The scores at the time of the stoppage were 58–56 for Kameda, 58–56 for Singyu and 57–57. Kameda made his third and final WBO bantamweight title defense against Alejandro Hernández on November 1, 2014, at the

Credit Union 1 Arena Credit Union 1 Arena (previously known as UIC Pavilion) is a multi-purpose arena located at 525 S. Racine Avenue on the Near West Side in Chicago, Illinois, which opened in 1982. Description and history Credit Union 1 Arena is located on the cam ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The bout was organized by Hernández's promoters Warriors Boxing, who won the purse bid with an offer of $603 000. Kameda was entitled to an 80% split of the purse, i.e. $482 400, while Hernández earned $120 600. Kameda won the fight by split decision. Two judges awarded him a 115–113 scorecard, while the third judge gave the same scorecard to Hernández. After beating Hernández, Kameda requested to face the WBA (Regular) bantamweight champion

Jamie McDonnell Jamie McDonnell (born 30 March 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2019. He held the IBF bantamweight title in 2013 and the WBA (Regular) title from 2014 to 2018. He held multiple regional bantamweight champio ...

in a title unification bout. This request was rejected by the WBO, as McDonnell was only the WBA "regular" champion, which was considered a secondary title by the organization. Kameda reacted to this by vacating the title on April 23, 2015, stating: "I have decided to relinquish my WBO belt. My main focus is to fight the best fighters in the world regardless of titles. Mcdonnell is a top fighter at 118 pounds and it was my wish to face him. I respect the WBO's decision to not sanction the fight and thank them for the opportunity to be their world champion". Kameda was booked to challenge McDonnell on May 1, 2015. Although he entered the bout as the favorite, Kameda lost the fight by a close unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 114–113 for McDonnell. The pair was scheduled to fight an immediate rematch on September 6, 2015. McDonnel once again won the fight by unanimous decision, this time in a more convincing fashion, with scores of 115–112, 116–111 and 117–110.

Super bantamweight

After suffering the first two losses of his professional career, Kameda moved up in weight to

, and was booked to face Edgar Martinez on October 15, 2016. He won the fight by a first-round knockout. Kameda next faced Mike Rawatchai on March 10, 2017, in his first fight in Japan since December 2013. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 100–88, 100–90 and 99–90. Four months later, on July 10, 2017, Kameda faced the one-time

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

bantamweight title challenger

Iván Morales José Iván Morales Elvira (born 9 October 1991) is a Mexican professional boxer who challenged for the IBF bantamweight title in 2016. He is the younger brother of both Diego Morales and of Erik Morales. Professional career In December 2009, ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 100–90, 100–90 and 99–91. Kameda was booked to face Daniel Noriega on May 5, 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 100–88 in his favor. Kameda was booked to challenge the reigning WBC interim super bantamweight titleholder Abigail Medina on November 12, 2018. The title bout was scheduled as the main event of an Abema TV broadcast card that took place at the

Korakuen Hall is a famous sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many notable boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Abema TV broadcast the fight live and exclusively on the internet, which was the first time that a world boxing championship in Japan was broadcast in such a way. Kameda won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 117–111 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 116–112 scorecard. The fight peaked at 2.2 million viewers. Winning the interim title placed Kameda at the front of the line to challenge the reigning champion Rey Vargas. The fight was officially confirmed on June 6, 2019, to take place at the Dignity Health Sports Park in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

on July 13, 2019. The bout was broadcast by DAZN. Vargas justified his role as the betting favorite, as he won the fight by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 117–110 for Vargas. Kameda was out-landed 173 to 133 in total punches, but only 122 to 120 in power punches. Kameda returned to boxing following a 22-month absence from the sport to face Hironori Miyake. The bout was booked for May 22, 2021, and took place at the 176BOX in

Toyonaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on October 15, 1936. Geography Climate Toyonaka has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The averag ...

, Japan. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 79–73, 78–73, and 78–73. After successfully bouncing back from his third professional loss, Kameda was scheduled to face

Yonfrez Parejo Yonfrez Antonio Parejo (born August 1, 1986) is a Venezuelan professional boxer. World title Parejo won the World Boxing Association interim bantamweight world title by defeating Luis Hinojosa. He had previously lost an attempt for that title t ...

in a WBA super bantamweight title eliminator. He earned the status of mandatory challenger by beating Parejo by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 117–111 and 116–112. On April 22, 2022, Kameda announced he had begun to train at the TRYBOX Heisei Nishiyama. Kameda was booked to face

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on July 30, 2022, at the Kobe Municipal Central Gymnasium in Kobe, Japan. Kameda won the fight by a fourth-round knockout. Kameda was booked to face the #12 ranked WBA super bantamweight contender Luis Castillo in a stay-busy fight on February 25, 2023, at the ATC Hall in Osaka, Japan. He won the fight by a fifth-round knockout. Kameda was ordered by the WBA, on June 5, 2023, to face former unified

super-bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

champion

Murodjon Akhmadaliev Murodjon Kakharovich Akhmadaliev ( uz, Murodjon Qahhorovich Ahmadaliyev; born 2 November 1994) is an Uzbekistani professional boxer who is a unified super-bantamweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), and IBF titles since 2020. As an ama ...

in a super bantamweight title eliminator.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , - align=center , 43 , Win , 40–3 , align=left, Luis Castillo , TKO , 5 (10), , Feb 25, 2023 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 42 , Win , 39–3 , align=left,

, KO , 4 (10), , Jul 30, 2022 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 41 , Win , 38–3 , align=left,

, UD , 12 , Dec 11, 2021 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 40 , Win , 37–3 , align=left, Hironori Miyake , UD , 8 , May 22, 2021 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 39 , Loss , 36–3 , align=left, Rey Vargas , UD , 12 , Jul 13, 2019 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 38 , Win , 36–2 , align=left, Abigail Medina , UD , 12 , Nov 12, 2018 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 37 , Win , 35–2 , align=left, Daniel Noriega , UD , 10 , May 5, 2018 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 36 , Win , 34–2 , align=left,

, UD , 10 , Jul 10, 2017 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 35 , Win , 33–2 , align=left, Mike Rawatchai , UD , 10 , Mar 10, 2017 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 34 , Win , 32–2 , align=left, Edgar Martinez , KO , 1 (10), , Oct 15, 2016 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 33 , Loss , , 31–2 , , align=left,

, UD , 12 , Sep 6, 2015 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 32 , Loss , , 31–1 , , align=left,

, UD , 12 , , May 9, 2015 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 31 , Win , , 31–0 , , align=left, Alejandro Hernández , SD , 12 , , Nov 1, 2014 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 30 , Win , , 30–0 , , align=left, Pungluang Sor Singyu , TKO , 7 (12), , , Jul 12, 2014 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 29 , Win , , 29–0 , , align=left, Immanuel Naidjala , UD , 12 , , Dec 3, 2013 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 28 , Win , , 28–0 , , align=left,

, UD , 12 , , Aug 1, 2013 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 27 , Win , , 27–0 , , align=left, Nouldy Manakane , KO , 6 (10), , , Mar 9, 2013 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 26 , Win , , 26–0 , , align=left, Rey Las Pinas , KO , 4 (10), , , Dec 4, 2012 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 25 , Win , , 25–0 , , align=left, Javier Franco , TKO , 5 (10), , , Oct 27, 2012 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 24 , Win , , 24–0 , , align=left, Monico Laurente , UD , 10 , , Aug 19, 2012 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 23 , Win , , 23–0 , , align=left, Jairo Hernandez , RTD , 10 (12), , , Apr 26, 2012 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 22 , Win , , 22–0 , , align=left, Eduardo García , KO , 7 (10), , , Dec 7, 2011 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 21 , Win , , 21–0 , , align=left, Jesús Ceja , TKO , 7 (10), , , Oct 15, 2011 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 20 , Win , , 20–0 , , align=left, Dandy Toei , UD , 10 , , Jul 8, 2011 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 19 , Win , , 19–0 , , align=left, Nathan Bolcio , UD , 10, , May 7, 2011 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 18 , Win , , 18–0 , , align=left, Germán Meraz , UD , 12 , , Feb 19, 2011 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 17 , Win , , 17–0 , , align=left, Pichitchai Twins Gym , KO , 3 (10), , , Dec 26, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 16 , Win , , 16–0 , , align=left,

Stephane Jamoye Stephane Jamoye (born October 5, 1989) is a Belgian professional boxer who held the European bantamweight title from 2012 to 2013. He also challenged for the WBC bantamweight title and WBA (Regular) super bantamweight title in 2014. Amateur care ...

, SD , 10 , , Aug 28, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 15 , Win , , 15–0 , , align=left, Arturo Camargo , UD , 10 , , Jul 10, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 14 , Win , , 14–0 , , align=left, Javier Rodríguez , UD , 10, , May 29, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 13 , Win , , 13–0 , , align=left, Narciso Lara , TKO , 3 (10), , , Apr 30, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 12 , Win , , 12–0 , , align=left, Rodolfo Garay , KO , 3 (10), , , Jan 16, 2010 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 11 , Win , , 11–0 , , align=left, Marlon Márquez , UD , 10 , , Nov 27, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 10 , Win , , 10–0 , , align=left, Jesus Periban , TKO , 3 (8), , , Sep 5, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 9 , Win , , 9–0 , , align=left, Marco Antonio Chable , TKO , 4 (6), , , Aug 6, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 8 , Win , , 8–0 , , align=left, Alejandro Dotor , TKO , 3 (6), , , Jun 26, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 7 , Win , , 7–0 , , align=left, Tatsuhiro Kumobayashi , TKO , 4 (6), , , May 30, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 6 , Win , , 6–0 , , align=left, Alain Lopez , UD , 4 , , Apr 11, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 5 , Win , , 5–0 , , align=left, Andres Torres , TKO , 2 (4), , , Mar 14, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 4 , Win , , 4–0 , , align=left, Arturo Delgado , TKO , 2 (4), , , Feb 6, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 3 , Win , , 3–0 , , align=left, Juan Carlos Olvera , TKO , 3 (4), , , Mar 28, 2009 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 2 , Win , , 2–0 , , align=left, Adrian Ramirez , KO , 2 (4), , , Dec 8, 2008 , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 1 , Win , , 1–0 , , align=left, Alejandro Moreno , KO , 2 (4), , , Nov 21, 2008 , , align=left, Salon Marbet Plus, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico , align=left,

References

External links

* *
Profile of Tomoki Kameda
from Premier Boxing Champions website
Tomoki Kameda - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kameda, Tomoki 1991 births Living people Bantamweight boxers Super-bantamweight boxers World bantamweight boxing champions World Boxing Organization champions Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Japanese male boxers Sportspeople from Osaka