THREE-TIME CHAMP KOKI KAMEDA AND WORLD-RATED MIDDLEWEIGHT CALEB TRUAX SET TO APPEAR IN SEPARATE 10-ROUND BOUTS, SATURDAY NIGHT IN CHICAGO
Two more competitive fights with worldwide significance will take place on the un-televised undercard of “The Homecoming”, presented by Warriors Boxing this Saturday, November 1, at UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.
WBO #10-rated middleweight Caleb “Golden” Truax (24-1-2, 14 KOs) of Osseo, Minnesota, will take on Bedford, Virginia’s Scott “Cujo” Sigmon (24-5-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-rounder; and former three-time world champion Kōki Kameda (32-1, 17 KOs) from Tokyo, Japan, will appear for the first time on US soil in a super flyweight 10-round fight against México City, Mexico’s Omar Salado (24-8-2, 15 KOs).
In the night’s main event, top light heavyweight contender Andrzej “Chicago’s Polish Prince” Fonfara (25-3, 15 KOs), will make his ring return against France via Congo’s Doudou Ngumbu (33-5, 12 KOs). Co-headlining, WBO World Bantamweight World Champion Tomoki “El Mexicanito” Kameda (30-0, 19 KOs), of Mexico City by way of Tokyo, Japan, will defend his title for the third time against interim WBO Bantamweight Champion Alejandro “Payasito” Hernandez (28-10-2, 15 KOs) of Mexico City in a 12-round battle and opening the SHOWTIME BOXING Special Edition, former interim WBA World Featherweight Champion Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (25-0-1, 18 KOs) of La Romana, Dominican Republic, squares off against Caguas, Puerto Rico’s Abner “Pin” Cotto (18-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-round super featherweight bout; live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).
Tickets start at $31 and are available at Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or call: 1-800-745-3000, the Warriors Offices: 312-622-7668 or the UIC Pavilion Box Office: 312-413-5740, or visit the UIC Box Office (Thursday or Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM). They can also be purchased the night of the event.
Twenty-seven-year-old southpaw Kōki Kameda is the former WBA Bantamweight, WBC Flyweight and WBA Light Flyweight Champion of the World. He is the oldest of the three Kameda brothers including himself, Daiki and Tomoki. The Kamedas are, by far, the most well-known boxers in Japan, Koki was also a television star in his homeland during his highly decorated amateur career.
Kameda won the WBA Light Flyweight Championship in 2006 and defended it once before vacating to move up to flyweight, where he won the WBC Flyweight Championship over Daisuke Naito in November 2009. His only career loss came in March 2010, by 12-round majority decision against Thailand’s Pongsaklek Wonjongkam to unify the WBC Flyweight championship and interim WBC Flyweight championships. In 2010, he moved up to bantamweight and took on Alexander Munoz and won the vacant WBA Bantamweight Regular by unanimous decision
In Dec. 2013, Kameda vacated his bantamweight title to move back down to the super flyweight division.
Thirty-four-year-old Omar Salado isa native of Tijuana. Salado has challenged three times for world championships. In 2011, he lost to then WBA World Light Flyweight Champion Roman Gonzalez. In 2009, he lost to Luis Concepcion for the interim WBA World flyweight Title and in 2006, he battled to a draw with then IBF World light flyweight Champion Ulises Solis. Salado has also taken on a lengthy list of top contenders in the flyweight divisions.
Thirty-one-year-old Caleb Truax is a native of Osseo, Minnesota, currently rated WBO #10 at middleweight. Truax got his nickname from his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, whose teams are known as the “Golden Gophers.”
He was last seen scoring a unanimous decision over dangerous spoiler Derek Ennis in July of this year. Showing world-class boxing ability, Truax never let Ennis into the fight and hurt the capable Philadelphian on several occasions.
Truax has excellent hand speed and power and uses fluid movement to score combinations.
Twenty-seven-year-old Scott Sigmon of Lynchburg, Virginia, won the vacant WBC United States (USNBC) super middleweight title and defended it twice. He went seven rounds with former world champion Kelly Pavlik in 2012 and was last seen in June of this year, fighting to an eight-round majority draw with undefeated prospect Deandre Neal in Neal’s home state of South Carolina. In March of this year, Sigmon stopped 24-3-3 Jessie Nicklow in 10 rounds.
Also on the undercard Saturday night, four of the top up-and-coming boxing prospects the Windy City has to offer, Chicago’s own Alex Martin (6-0, 5 KOs), Semajay Thomas (4-0, 2 KOs), Eddie Ramirez (5-0, 3 KOs), and Jose Felix Quezada (3-0, 2 KOs), will appear in separate undercard bouts.
On fight night, doors open at 5:00 pm and the action starts at 5:30 pm. All bouts are subject to change. For more information, visitwww.warriorsboxing.com.
