Tomoki Kameda

Kameda had been training for the Beijing Olympics and ran his record to 35-1-1 in Japan.

After his move to Mexico, he competed in the Guantes de Oro de México.

However, he was too young to participate at the Olympic qualifiers.

Instead of waiting, Kameda chose to turn pro.

Tomoki Kameda (born July 12, 1991) is a Japanese professional boxer.

Kameda made his professional debut against Alejandro Moreno on November 21, 2008, and won the fight by a second-round knockout.

He amassed an 27–0 record during the next year, before challenging for the WBO bantamweight title.

He is a former WBO bantamweight champion, having held the title from 2013 to 2014, and former WBC super bantamweight title challenger, having fought for the title in 2019.

Tomoki Kameda grew up in a tough area of Osaka, Japan.

Tomoki is the brother of Kōki Kameda and Daiki Kameda.

Their father, Shiro, dreamt that all three sons would grow up to win world titles in boxing.

At the age of 15, Tomoki Kameda relocated to Mexico in order to learn from Mexican boxing experts.

He is fluent in Spanish.

His early nickname in Japan was Kameda-ke Saishū Heiki (亀田家最終兵器).

It denotes "The Ultimate Weapon of the Kamedas".

He later gained a Spanish nickname El Mexicanito which translates to "The Little Mexican", since he also trains and fights out of Mexico.

He has started to earn the respect of Mexican boxing fans, due to his very aggressive style of fighting.

On May 30, 2013, it was announced that Kameda would challenge the undefeated reigning WBO bantamweight champion Paulus Ambunda.

The bantamweight title bout was scheduled as the main event of an August 1, 2013 card that took place at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Cebu City, Philippines.

Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, Kameda won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 116–112 and 117–111.

Kameda made history as the first Japanese boxer to win a WBO title.

Kameda faced another Namibian in his first title defense, as he was booked to face the undefeated Immanuel Naidjala.

The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the Liborio Solis and Daiki Kameda unified super flyweight title fight, which took place on December 3, 2013, at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Osaka.

Kameda retained the belt by unanimous decision, with scores of 117–111, 118–110 and 119–109.

Kameda was booked to make his second title defense against the former two-time WBO bantamweight titleholder Pungluang Sor Singyu.

The fight was scheduled for the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara middleweight bout, which took place on July 12, 2014, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.

This bout represented Kameda's United States and Showtime debut.

Kameda won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout.

He sent Singyu to the canvas with a left hook to the liver, which left the former champion unable to beat the ten-count.

The scores at the time of the stoppage were 58–56 for Kameda, 58–56 for Singyu and 57–57.

Kameda made his third and final WBO bantamweight title defense against Alejandro Hernández on November 1, 2014, at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

The bout was organized by Hernández's promoters Warriors Boxing, who won the purse bid with an offer of $603 000.

Kameda was entitled to an 80% split of the purse, i.e. $482 400, while Hernández earned $120 600.

Kameda won the fight by split decision.

Two judges awarded him a 115–113 scorecard, while the third judge gave the same scorecard to Hernández.

After beating Hernández, Kameda requested to face the WBA (Regular) bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell in a title unification bout.

This request was rejected by the WBO, as McDonnell was only the WBA "regular" champion, which was considered a secondary title by the organization.

Kameda reacted to this by vacating the title on April 23, 2015, stating: "I have decided to relinquish my WBO belt. My main focus is to fight the best fighters in the world regardless of titles. Mcdonnell is a top fighter at 118 pounds and it was my wish to face him. I respect the WBO's decision to not sanction the fight and thank them for the opportunity to be their world champion".

Kameda was booked to challenge McDonnell on May 1, 2015.

Although he entered the bout as the favorite, Kameda lost the fight by a close unanimous decision.