By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated WBO Bantamweight Champion Tomoki Kameda of Japan will be taking on WBA titleholder Jamie McDonnell of Britain this Saturday, May 9 at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. The 12-round bout will be an afternoon affair since it’s being broadcast by the regular CBS network as a part of the Premier Boxing Champions Series. Fans in the UK can catch the action live on Sky Sports. Kameda won his title in 2013 from Paulus Ambunda and has defended it three times.
The 23-year-old native of Osaka will climb through the ring ropes with a perfect mark of 31-0 along with 19 Kos while the 29-year-old McDonnell of Doncaster, England is 25-2-1 with 12 Kos to his name. The Englishman is a former IBF titleholder and hasn’t lost since 2008. He has won 17 straight fights and recently captured the WBA championship after beating Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat. He’s defended the crown once against Javier Nicolas Chacon.
McDonnell likes to throw punches in bunches and doesn’t really possess much in the way of knockout power. Kameda on the other hand, can box and also has pretty good power on his punches. Kameda will be the slight favourite going into the fight and he’ll be the toughest opponent McDonnell has faced up to now. The challenger knows he’s in for a tough fight and told The Ring, “I’ve seen Kameda a few times. He’s hungry, undefeated, sharp and always ready to fight. If I’m not on the ball then I could get beat, but I’m more than confident of going over to the States and getting a stoppage. I think I can hit Kameda, hurt him, and take him out late if I play my cards right.”
Kameda turned pro in 2008 and has boxed 200 rounds since then. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a 66-inch reach. McDonnell turned pro back in 2005 and has boxed 197 rounds up to now. He has a slight one-inch edge in height as he’s 5-feet-8-inched tall while his reach is unlisted by BoxRec. In addition, BoxRec lists this fight as being for McDonnell’s WBA title, so it’s unclear if Kameda’s WBO belt is actually on the line on Saturday. In fact, by the time the fight starts there may be no titles on the line due to the political actions of both the WBA and WBO.
McDonnell is a former British and Commonwealth champion to and owns one of the sport’s longest winning undefeated streaks at the moment. He lost his first fight by 12-round split decision to Chris Edwards back in December of 2007 and then lost his next outing four months later when Lee Haskins beat him on points over eight rounds. That fight in March of 2008 was the last one he’s lost. McDonnell hasn’t really taking on any elite boxers, but he’s durable and skilled and shouldn’t be overlooked and underrated by Kameda.
Prediction
Kameda is a tough nut to crack, but McDonnell has some slick boxing skills and usually lets his hands go. He’s got a pretty good chin and could give Kameda a run for his money. Kameda’s best chance is to make the Englishman feel his power early so he’ll think twice about wading in and launching combinations. This is a close one to predict and it could go the distance with Kameda taking the decision.
