So, has enough time passed for us to have an honest conversation about "Naniwa no Tōken"? ** Sure, for most of his active years he was basically a meme boxer. (You...kind of had to be there, but let my try and explain. For a time it was fashionable on every corner of the boxing internet to just ironically post his name, in all lowercase, non-sequitur, in random threads which had absolutely naught to do with him. It all traces afaik to an intrepid troll on this very forum, who for a full dozen years diligently repeated the same five syllables a total of 674 times. ) It's been a decade since Kōki hung up the gloves now, however - notwithstanding an abortive attempt to get both him and Pong to un-retire for a rematch in 2018. I think we're distanced enough to perform a sober appraisal. How does he rate amongst Japanese boxing champions? Or even amongst his own family (over whom is cast the pall of longstanding connections with organized crime) - how does he compare with his brothers Daiki and Tomoki, both themselves world titlists? Certainly his first victory over Venezuelan southpaw Juan José "Baby" Landaeta - the one that first opened the door for Kameda into the annals of world championship history - was a robbery. Most people thought so in 2006 - including most Japanese (for whom, remember, Kameda was at this point just some 11-0 prospect they had no reason to root against) - but see for yourself: This content is protected He would outpoint Landaeta in the rematch fair & square...if dully. That lone defense would be all that he saw fit to invest at light fly before moving up. His gut-check upset of Daisuke Naito to claim the green belt at 112lb is undoubtedly his best win: This content is protected ...but it would be his briefest time as champ, as he wouldn't even match the one successful defense he managed at 108lbs. Thai great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam would immediately relieve him of the hardware. It was officially a MD, but in any other country would have been a clear UD for Pong. Kameda's longest but most forgettable reign would come at bantamweight; starting with Alexander Muñoz and finishing with Omar Salado. Both fine fighters...but that's all. Everyone in between them? Fine, but that's all. Finally, nearly twelve years after debuting, he got his ass handed to him by countryman Kōhei Kōno in an ill-advised drop back down to super fly, and decided to call it a day. So what do we think? ** this nickname, btw, hilariously can be translated as either "Fighting Fist of Osaka", which is how it's meant by his fans - or, in a rather amusing Japanese instance of homophone, as "Cowardly Dog of Osaka" (pronounced the same but spelled with different kanji) which his haters happily refrain.
Age and wear & tear aren't even particularly good excuses for that last loss...Kono is six years older than Kameda, with his pro debut coming three years earlier.
Meaningful scalps: Naito, Landaeta I & II, Ruiz, Salado, Iamsiri, De la Mora, Muñoz...with asterisks on at least two (Landaeta I and DDLM)
Frankly, as a Japanese boxing fan his individual image has improved since his retirement and distancing from his godawful father. Koki had his own moments of infamousness and he's not blameless for sure but the biggest negative of that family was and is Shiro Kameda, their Dad. He certainly is giving his best effort as a promoter, that is for sure.
BoxRec has them ranked thus all-time p4p from Japan: Tomoki #30 Kōki #45 Daiki #70 Interesting, as "The Mexican" has the fewest world title reigns (1, the WBO bantamweight) compared with Daiki's two and Kōki's three. Also, btw, there is a fighting Kameda sister named Himetsuki and cousin named Kyonosuke. I'm not sure if either was/is trained by shady patriarch Shiro. Himetsuki "Hime-Chan" Kameda debuted in 2018, went 5-0, and then lost against Thai southpaw Chatpetch "Supa Fartoraneeseang" Sith Jahchart. In yet more Kameda family screwiness, the bout was retroactively declared a No Contest on the grounds that Kameda had not obtained a JBC license to challenge for whatever minor title was on the line (WBA Women's Asian Light Flyweight Championship, if you must know). She was then sidelined due to Japan's travel restrictions during Covid-19 and I guess eventually decided to call it quits to pursue her dream of joining J-pop girl group AKB48. Kyonosuke "Mad Fist of Naniwa" Kameda is a currently active featherweight with a 15-4-2 (9) record. He was just kayoed by Luis Nery last Saturday.
Obvious ducks by KK: JJL rubbermatch Naito rematch Anselmo Moreno unification Honestly shot himself in the foot with those because all three were very winnable, and if you add them onto his résumé it gets a significant boost.
