Cristian Mijares: Killing Off Some Time With an Old Timer

[cool-jupiter]

warp1432 - Koki Kameda has issued a challenge -not officially though - to WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito immediately after Naito knocked Tomonobu Shimizu out cold on July 30th. Koki has repeatedly said that he would become a 3 weight division champion, so I don't think he moves up in weight to face Mijares without capturing any world flyweight title. And you know what. Koki is nowhere near Mijares' league. His target right now is Naito, who I believe will turn down Koki's challenge due to lots of problems that have arouse - and will arise - and also to get ready for his upcoming Mexican mandatory contendor.

Doing a tuneup fight is fine, especially after a tought unification bout against someone like Munoz. Too bad, the bout won't be televised. I wish I could afford to fly to Mexico just to see Mijares in action. Oh well, I guess there are some avid and dedicated Mijares fans in Mexico who upload the video of the fight onto youtube quickly. And if there is also someone who gets a chance to see how Koki Kameda performs in the ring and also uploads it to youtube, that would be pretty much appreciated.

[warp1432]

Wait Naito is fighting another mandatory? What happened to that unification? I thought that was the point of having him and sakata on the same card. Also what probelms?

[ElGranLuchador]

mijares is gonna ko this old guy
thats for sure

[cool-jupiter]

The unification fight between Naito and Sakata is still a possibility, which is not a feasibility at this point of time. Sakata is willing to unify the titles, while Naito conditionally agrees on it. Naito has said that in order for the unification to take place, both Sakata and himself make at least five title defenses respectively. Having both champions on the same card was for a variety of reasons such as (A) Sakata is not famous enough to headline an event while Naito is a quite notable figure in Japan and (B) maybe they will once again share the same night to fight for their title defenses, possibly on Dec 31st.

For me, both reasons don't make much sense. Some people argue that it is no longer a world title if it's fought between two Japanese fighters, which I think is far from correct. Look at Vasquez and Marquez. They are both Mexicans and they've fought three times in a row for the world title. Sure, it's not usual, but it is not unlikely. I, for one, need the unification to come true.

As for the problems regarding Koki Kameda, there are so many of them. First, Koki has been ranked #1 by the WBA for quite a while, but he has never been willing to challenge WBA champion Sakata. He is still at #1, but the mandatory contendor is now Denkaosan Kaovichit of Thai who is WBA #2 ranked fighter and fought Sakata for the title a year and a half ago to mark a split draw decision. Second, you may not believe this, but almost all Japanese fight fans don't want to see Koki in action. He has done so many fouls in the ring most of which the referees did not call appropriately. Hell, he instructed his younger brother Daiki to stub Naito in the eye with the elbow between rounds when Daiki fought Naito. And that voice was televised across the country of Japan. He paid the penalty and was banned from fighting for 3 months. Of course, the suspension has already been lifted, but people have not yet forgiven the Kameda brothers as their public apology was far from apology but a bunch of excuses. That's why he did an exodus to Mexico to fight some underdogs. Naito himself is not willing to face Koki for the time being neither, his promoter is happy to accept the fight though.
Naito's next mandatory is still unknown. Some say it's Julio Cesar Miranda, while others say it's Ponomrunglek Kratingdaeng. I lean on Miranda, for I saw him win the eliminator on the undercard of Mijares - Munoz. Well, to cut a lot of story short, there is no point in Naito accepting Koki's challenge at this point. Koki is no longer an equivalent of ODLH in Japan.

I've been wondering when a Mijares - Montiel clash takes place by the way...