WBA "regular" Bantamweight champion Koki Kameda (29-1, 17) will be looking for win #30 on Sunday as he defends his belt against little known Thai Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym (36-1, 19) who is moving up from Super Flyweight for this bout.
The defending Japanese fighter, 26 is a 3-weight world champion having started his career at Light Flyweight (where he won the WBA title in 2006) and also having claimed the WBC Flyweight title (which he lost in 2010 to the legendary Pongsaklek Wonjongkam) before claiming his current status at Bantamweight. He has proven himself at world level repeatedly over the past 6 years though has often left fans with serious questions marks, especially in his current reign as a Bantamweight champion.
In terms of his style Kameda is a fast punching southpaw who like to fight in bursts and assert himself. When he can't force himself in to the bout Kameda has been shown to struggle and at Bantamweight this has become a regular occurrence with David De La Mora and Hugo Ruiz both arguably being robbed by him and the judges. In fact both of those two showed that Kameda isn't anything special at Bantamweight.
Despite his relative limitations Kameda is a huge draw in his native Japan and this has helped make a him a bit of a star on TV. It's this that has likely help extend his reign as champion especially in his debatable bouts which have seen the crowd making noise and probably helping him over the finishing line.
When it comes to the Thai challenger we really know very little. Like Kameda he's a southpaw though at 29 he's a bit older than the champion. Thankfully if we go through his record we do see some recognisable names including Rocky Fuentes (who Kaiyanghadaogym defeated on debut), Richard Garcia, Dondon Jimnea, Marvin Tampus and Ricky Manufoe. Of course bar Fuentes they are better known as journeymen in Asia.
Like Kameda, Kaiyanghadaogym has also suffered a single loss. Whilst Kameda's came to a top level fighter in Wonjongkam, Kaiyanghadaogym's came to former world title contender Hiroyuki Hisataka who oddly enough Kaiyanghadaogym had already beaten. Worryingly for Kaiyanghadaogym he was actually stopped by Histaka who only has "respectable" power despite his toughness.
Whilst I don't think much of Kameda as a Bantamweight (he's too small and lacks any genuine power at the weight) I feel it would be difficult to pick Kaiyanghadaogym here. Sure Kaiyanghadaogym may put up a spirited effort but with Kameda's recent "success" in close fights it's always going to be a case of a fighter needing to stop him to be sure of a victory and sadly Kaiyanghadaogym doesn't have that sort of power.
Prediction-Kameda UD
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