Tomoki “El Mexicanito” Kameda (31-2, 19 KOs) and Jamie McDonnell (27-2, 12 KOs) found themselves in the Lone Star state for a second time this year, as McDonnell defended his WBA Bantamweight title.
In their first encounter, McDonnell edged his way to a victory despite being knocked down early on in the bout. This time around, El Mexicanito looked to avenge his only loss and win the title.
From the start of the fight, both men came to the center of the ring to start their exchanges. Kameda pressed the action in the first two rounds and established his jab, mixing in some solid bodywork. The next few rounds displayed similar action, but McDonnell seemed to be turning the pressure around on Kameda. Similar to their first encounter, Kameda started off strong but began to let McDonnell establish himself and get back into the fight.
In the mid-to-late rounds, McDonnell displayed some effective combinations and if nothing else, a true champions heart. Kameda never let up either. Whether he was pressing McDonnell or fighting on his back foot, Kameda let his hands go. Kameda was able to draw first blood early on and McDonnell’s nose was a nice target for Kameda’s jab.
Entering the championship rounds, watching from ringside, there wasn’t a clear winner and it seemed as though the final two rounds could very well have decided the fight. The 12th and final round proved to be the most controversial of the fight. McDonnnel scored an iffy knockdown late in the round that very well could have been ruled a slip.
Regardless, the knockdown didn’t matter as the judges scored the bout 116-111, 115-112, and 117-110 respectively, all for McDonnell. McDonnell handed Kameda his second professional loss.
“I thought I won this fight even more decisively than the first one,” exclaimed a disappointed Kameda after the fight. McDonnell on the other hand felt the scores were spot on.
117-110 is a ridiculous score, but perhaps judge Steve Weisfeld missed the first half of the fight and just spit balled some scores.
“Everything went according to plan. The plan was to box him and catch him with some big shots,” said McDonnell in his post fight interview.
“To be fair, that fight felt more even than the last fight, but I felt in control. When I dropped him in the last round, I think he did slip a little bit, but I did catch him and after that I knew I sealed the victory,” said McDonnell.
However you scored the bout, at least you received some good action from both corners in what some people here at the American Bank Center considered the main event bout.
[slideshow_deploy id=’48315′] All photos by Lucas Noonan/PBC
