21-year-old Japanese Daiki Kameda (16-2, 11 KOs), 112, captured the WBA flyweight belt as he was awarded a unanimous decision over defending titlist Denkaosen Kaowichit (48-2-1, 20 KOs), Thailand, over twelve lousy rounds in Kobe, Japan. The official tallies were as follows: Stanley Christodoulou (South Africa) and Glenn Feldman (US) both 116-110 and Pascuale Procopio (Canada) 114-112, all for the Japanese challenger. The referee was Lahcen Oumghar (Holland). It was a farce rather than a fight. Kameda slipped down on five occasions, while Denkaosen was penalized twice because of his repeated clinches in the sixth and eleventh. It was one of the very least technical bouts with world championships at stake held here in Japan. We, however, will have to evaluate and celebrate Kameda brothers having conquered the WBA and the WBC belts in the same 112-pound category in 69 days since his elder brother Koki, 23, dethroned WBC ruler Daisuke Naito in Saitama on November 30. Daiki and Koki finally followed the footsteps of Klitschko brothers having dominated the same heavyweight thrones at the same era.
They faced with the WBA belt on the line last October with Denkaosen emerging victorious with a majority verdict (115-113 twice and 114-114). This direct rematch was authorized by the WBA after the previous convention in Colombia, though ex-champ Takefumi Sakata was also very anxious to face the Thailander again after his forfeiture of the belt by a pulverizing KO defeat by the grudge rival in 2008.
The slick-punching champ seemingly led on points in earlier rounds by displaying frequent jabs and more flexible combinations against the nervous and stiff Kameda. But Denkaosen became tired so early that he was deducted a point as he grabbed Kameda too often to avert his awkward assault in the sixth. Since then, the tide might have turned in favor of the younger challenger, who utilized his power and attacked the visibly fading champ with a punch at a time.
Daiki was in command in the seventh through ninth sessions. It was fortunate the third man again penalized a point from Denkaosen in the eleventh. The twelfth and final stanze was controlled by the more aggressive challenger.
We witnessed more clinches than their exchange of blows in the lousiest world title bout in history. Denkaosen’s companion, ex-WBA 115-pound champ and Hall of Famer Khaosai Galaxy claimed that Denkaosen, his junior in the same Galaxy Promotions, had won by a slight margin even after the penalizations.
