Yes he suffered a detached retina but had successful surgery and is recovering at the moment. He'll be back.
Didnt Vasquez have the same injury... man I could really watch him fight again who knows when though.
Considering that Mares fights 2 weight divisions above Kameda and is the more well-rounded fighter... Mares.
kameda can draw 50,000 people to a stadium for a fight with a guy who owns a 1-5 record. ridiculous. kameda has gotten some seriously sven ottke decisions in japan and i think he is, at best, a weak contender level fighter. brian viloria, even derailed and flagging as he was when they were talking about pairing him with kameda, would have beaten him soundly. kameda already suffers a lack of power at super-fly AND is often gas'd for the last third of a ten-round fight...not a good combo for a supposed world-beater. kameda, in my opinion, has let arrogance and popularity lead him to soft training and a celebrity lifestyle that stopped him from progressing past a certain, unimpressive point in terms of his skills and conditioning. mares, i admit, is still a work in progress...but his stamina and accuracy really seem to be coming along and sharpening up to the world title level. i think being able to go 12 rounds hard and busy is enough to beat kameda, who poses no knockout threat and is sure to tire quickly after 6 or 7 rounds. mares by a wide decision, i think, because if he manages to hurt kameda we all know koki can find the energy to run away and hold on effectively enough to grind a fight to a trickle. i have no prejudice whatsoever against japanese fighters. hozumi hasegawa has long been a terrific attraction and a serious, tough, tricky, committed fighter who took his game--despite a lack of natural talent--up to the world class level and has kept it there, mostly, during his current wbc bantamweight title reign. and look out for daisuke furuhashi, the kid hasn't been tested at all yet, but he's got the moves and a really excellent raw talent pool to draw from as he develops. furuhashi is one of the quickest bantams i've seen in a while, which is really saying something.
Koki is good..very athletically talented. But not so good that he could jump up the bantam and a challenge a very decent prospect in Mares. He has shown he may well have his limitations. Havent seen anything to support he could make the move at this stage, seeing as he showed some issues over the stretch at light fly.
Great pick. Mares has been developing fine under Professor Igacio beristain and he would pick vic apart and stop him late.
