Koki Kameda Wins Exhibition Match, Aiming For Chocolatito
Despite Koki Kameda's return fight not actually being an official boxing match, Kameda still came out on top.
In what was ultimately an exhibition bout at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo between Kameda and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Kameda won by TKO in his first fight since 2015. Despite not being an actual sanctioned bout, Kameda dominated the fight, showcasing a level of offensive pressure reminiscent of his days as a world champion. After the exhibition bout, Wonjongkam stated he would like to see Kameda make a full return and challenge for world titles again.
"Personally I want Koki Kameda to continue his boxing career. His punching power is at a level suitable for capturing a world title again," Wonjongkam said.
The fight was originally going to be an official eight-round fight in the super flyweight division, but the Japanese Boxing Commission ruled that because Wonjongkam is 40 years old he cannot get licensed to fight in Japan. According to the JBC rules, a boxer above the age of 37 cannot get a license to fight in Japan, meaning the fight cannot be sanction and was then turned into an exhibition. Kameda and Wonjongkam had already fought as pros in 2010, with Wonjongkam winning the WBC flyweight title by majority decision.
Kameda has been a world champion in three different weight classes (light flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight) with his last professional fight being a WBA super flyweight title loss to Kohei Kono. After the fight, Kameda said he would love to fight former world champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, who was previously scheduled to fight on the May 5 HBO boxing card, but visa issues in his home country of Nicaragua prevented him from fighting in the United States in time.
