WBO bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda beat Alejandro Hernandez on a split decision in Chicago on Saturday night. Kameda, from Japan, retained his title and his unbeaten record when he won by 115-113 on two scorecards. The other judge gave it to the Mexican by the same score.
“I was surprised by the judges’ scorecards,” said Kameda, who made third successful defense of the 118-pound crown. “I thought I won by unanimous decision. He’s a good fighter and he’s experienced, but I thought it was clear that I won."
The champion, who has now won each of 31 his professional bouts, set the tone by consistently beating Hernandez to the punch over the first eight rounds but he failed to get the 20th knockout of his career. Hernandez, who is 28 years old, now stands at 28-10-2, including 15 shortcut victories.
The 23-year-old Kameda, who was born in Japan but moved to Mexico when he was 15 years old, was cut over his left eye in the ninth round but fought on. The bout was just his second in the United States. He beat Pungluang Singyu in Las Vegas in July. Most of his other fights were in Mexico or Asia.
Now Kameda looks to a 2015 unification with WBA 'regular' champion Jamie McDonnell of the UK.
“I’m going to talk to my team but we’re hoping for a unification fight with [Jamie] McDonnell.”
McDonnell (24-2-1, 11KOs) first has to beat Walberto Ramos on November 22nd in Liverpool.
