By Ian S Palmer
Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan will be taking on Greg Vendetti of Stoneham, Massachusetts at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California this Friday, August 17th. The 10-round junior middleweight bout can be seen live in the U.S. On ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes while fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN 2. Kamegai last fought a year ago when he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Miguel Cotto while Vendetti’s last fight took place in April when he stopped Alex Sandro Duarte in the first round.
The 35-year-old Kamegai is well known to North American fans for his tilt against Cotto, his 12-round slugfest loss to Robert Guerrero in June of 2014 and his pair of action-packed fights against Jesus Soto-Karass. Kamegai climbs through the ropes with a mark of 27-4-2 and has 24 Kos under his belt. His biggest fights have been against Cotto, Soto-Karass, Guerrero, Johan Perez and Alfonso Gomez, with Gomez and Perez beating him by unanimous decisions for his other two losses.
Kamegai’s two draws came against Soto-Karass and Jorge Silva in 10-round affairs. The native of Sapporo is known for his fan-friendly brawling abilities rather than boxing finesse. He’s as tough as they come and possesses a ton of heart along with heavy, thudding fists. Kamegai is 5-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 71 inches. He has 196 rounds to his name since turning pro in 2005 and has a very impressive knockout ratio of 73 per cent. The Japanese slugger also has a very solid chin, has never been stopped and has the power to turn things around with one or two solid shots if landed squarely.
As for Vendetti, he’s known as the villain and is 28 years old. He enters the ring with a mark of 19-2-1 along with 12 Kos. He turned pro back in 2013 and has 88 rounds of experience under his belt since then. We’re not sure how big Vendetti is as there’s no current height and reach information available for him. His losses came at the hands of Antonio Chaves Fernandez by six-round split decision in 2013 and a four-round majority decision to Pedro Gonzalez four months later.
Vendetti’s lone draw was a four-round split decision affair in 2013. He’s basically a solid journeyman fighter who will be taking a big step up in class as he’s never faced a recognizable contender up to now. In fact, just six of his 22 opponents have had winning records. Vendetti did win the vacant USA New England Super Welterweight Title with an eight-round majority decision over Khiary Gray in June of 2017. Vendetti also has a solid chin and possesses decent power with a current knockout ratio of 55 per cent.
Prediction…
Kamegai likes to keep busy once the bell rings and his heavy shots just keep on coming. He has an amazing ability to absorb punches and this means he isn’t afraid to take three or four shots to land one of his own. He’s a powerful man for his size, but he’s been through a few wars now and is also 35 years old. Vendetti needs to keep the pressure on Kamegai and take advantage of any openings he leaves. Kamegai may want to jump on the relatively-inexperienced Vendetti right from the opening bell and try to end this quickly. As long as Kamegai hasn’t lost it overnight he should win this fight with a stoppage being a distinct possibility.
