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The story
The WBA featherweight world title match scheduled for the 17th (18th Japan time) in Las Vegas was called off on the very morning of the fight. Opponent Brandon Figueroa had already been stripped of the title after failing to make the featherweight limit at the previous day’s weigh-in, and then pulled out on fight day itself citing poor health. On 5ch, sympathy for Kazuki Kameda — who had properly prepared his body for the bout — mixed with questions about how lenient the punishment for missing weight was, while talk also turned to what happens to the vacant title and the chances of a future bout with Naoya Inoue.
Pro boxing’s TMK Gym revealed in the early hours of the 18th (Japan time) that the WBA featherweight world title match Kazuki Kameda (35, TMK) had been set to fight in Las Vegas on the 17th (18th Japan time),
was called off on the morning of the fight itself, after the promoter notified them that opponent Brandon Figueroa (USA) had pulled out due to poor health.
Figueroa had failed to make the featherweight limit (57.1kg or under) twice at the previous day’s weigh-in held on the 16th local time (17th Japan time), and had already been stripped of the title for coming in over weight.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It's not read that way, though (nitpicking the pronunciation of Kazuki's name)
A guy who disrespects the sport like this should be banned for life
Still, it's just too sad for Kameda — he actually got his body in shape for this
Agreed
But it won't go that way — boxing's way too soft on stuff like this
Age-wise this was probably his last real shot
Man of many loves~
Brandooon~ (riffing on a cheesy old pop-song chant)
(Sounds like the opponent just bailed on his own this time — he's going to get treated pretty harshly by promoters going forward)
In Japan, gyms run the shows themselves, so they're obsessed with making the fight happen no matter what, and the guy who actually cut weight properly ends up looking like the sucker
Kameda Tomoki (same joke applied to Kazuki's name)
Full forfeiture of his purse is the only fair call
It's a walkover win, right?
This kind of gamesmanship is completely normal
What gamesmanship? You mean just "yay, screw you" lol?
I don't care if it's legal, what does he even gain from this? He could've just not taken the fight in the first place. And is this really something you do after already being stripped of the title?
The idea that NOT playing dirty like this makes you the idiot needs to die
Same with soccer players flopping around on the ground when it doesn't even hurt — genuinely embarrassing
It's featherweight, so that's totally possible
Well, that would just mean Kameda's the better man at featherweight. Can't really judge who's "stronger" since they'd have faced different opponents, though
Win an eliminator against Nakano or Mirco
Defend as champion against Naoya Inoue, fresh off beating Bam
Put up a good fight but lose by wide decision
Retire
That's probably the best-case scenario
Though since Inoue has other options like Leo or Carrington, he might just avoid the Kameda family altogether since he's said to dislike them
If Kameda becomes champion, that logic doesn't hold anymore — he'd already be champ in the weight class above
There's no point fighting an ex-champion to begin with. Even winning gets you no title, so the best move is just stringing people along with "I'll fight, I'll fight" for easy money
Maybe it takes time to find weak opponents, I dunno, but he's way too lazy
1.5 fights a year is his default pace
This is his first fight in a year and a half
How many fights do you think Inoue had last year? Look it up before you say stuff like that
This just opened the door to an Inoue eliminator for the vacant title
Knowing the WBA, they'll probably stick Kameda with some meaningless "Interim" or "Gold" belt nobody understands, and force the real title fight to be Inoue vs. Figueroa instead
Setting aside that the opponent is Kameda, this is actually a pretty great path for Inoue too
Going straight for a featherweight title would be risky without a tune-up fight, but financially he can't just fight some unknown contender
An eliminator against Kameda — who's power-less and otherwise just contender-level — fits that gap perfectly
Though the backlash over it being specifically Kameda is probably too loud for this to ever actually happen
Wait, seriously? So the other side actually gets some money out of this?
I figured it'd be full forfeiture of the purse plus a fine on top
Guess the penalties are pretty lax after all
If it meant losing the whole purse, he probably would've cut weight like his life depended on it
Background and Key Points of This Story
In boxing, missing weight at the previous day’s weigh-in automatically strips a fighter of their title, but in many cases the fight itself still goes ahead once the weight overage is acknowledged. This time, on top of losing the title, the fighter also pulled out on the day of the bout itself — an unusual turn of events — and the thread saw surprise at how lenient the punishment was, since only a portion of the purse goes to the opponent’s side rather than a full forfeiture. Whether Kameda will simply be awarded the vacant title, or whether the WBA will instead arrange an eliminator aimed at setting up a fight with Naoya Inoue, is not confirmed in the article. It’s also worth noting that the “Inoue vs. Kameda” matchup floated in the thread is purely speculation from posters, not an announced fact.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports Express+) thread “[Boxing] Kazuki Kameda’s World Title Fight Canceled on Fight Day — Brandon Figueroa, Stripped of Title for Missing Weight, Cites Illness.”
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