Koki Kameda vs. John Mark Apolinario RBR

Round 12

Apolinario is hurt and given a standing eight count as Kameda pummels him on the ropes, with a hard left to the jaw sending him reeling back so they held him up. Kameda spends the round trying to finish him off but Apolinario survives by punching his heart out and using head movement with his little remaining energy. His legs barely work anymore.

10-8 Kameda

114-112

 

Official cards:


Alfredo Polanco 119-107
Pinit Prayadsab 118-108
Wan-Soo Yuh 117-109

UD for Koki Kameda

 

Japan. :-(

 

Remember the Kameda vs. De La Mora screw job? :-(

It was close but IMO very clear for DLM. Even with the knockdown against him, a majority of rounds were clearly his. There simply weren't another five you could give Kameda besides the 3rd (or another six like one judge had)

Granted, none of them were Japanese...but that doesn't mean they weren't down with the shady Kameda family biz.

 

Lately? Try since Pong schooled him.

Koki has struggled with more than half of his opponents since then, and never really looked spectacular.

You can make a case for him losing 3 of his last 4, and 4 of his last 6. (Ruiz, Manakane, Iamsiri, and especially De La Mora) Everyone but Macias has given him more problems than any of them ought to be giving an elite.

When he was undefeated he fought with more consistent desire; now it comes and goes. He elects to box with guys he can't easily outbox, and then half-asses it and has it backfire on him. He relies on his chin and relentlessness to hope the other guy tires out so he can just pile on the power and score a knockdown or knockout. (and his safety net is relying on his familial connections and 'home-cooking', so the knockdowns help justify those verdicts even if mathematically there still ought to be ground to cover)

His power is self-evident but he doesn't have a strategy to get it from point A to point B other than "wait for XYZ to gas, maybe..."

Before Pong, he was 22-0 (14) - 64% KO rate. Since 2010 he is 9-1 (3) - 30%. Granted the opposition has improved greatly to world championship level, but he also isn't doing things fundamentally like he used to before losing his zero and with it his confidence. He fancies himself a boxer-puncher now, and does have all the necessary tools but simply can't or won't bring it all together efficiently. He boxes lazily and doesn't set himself up to have a puncher's chance. He is sort of in stylistic limbo, and has no reason to change anything since the judges keep bailing him out.

 

Apolinario swept the first three rather clearly; it was beginning to seem like Sweet Science 101. So right off the bat you have to question the 119-107 and 118-108. Even the 117-109 is a bit stingy assuming that person shut him off as of the 4th, which is a bit unfair.

Then, starting in the 4th, Kameda burst his bubble and began to bulldoze him and from there Apolinario slowly but surely fell apart the rest of the way (though he picked up another round here or there when he caught a second wind and was able to outmaneuver Kameda)

You can say he wasn't in peak condition, or that he is too fragile to compete on the world class stage - but you can't dismiss his efforts in the early going or the fact that even late he was throwing flurries at Kameda albeit on the backfoot. (he was never in full-on survival mode, refusing to engage or anything)