After Liborio Solis was forced to vacate his WBA Junior Bantamweight title due to failing to make weight, there was at least some solace to be had come fight night. The Venezuelan beat IBF titlist Daiki Kameda over the 12 round stretch in Osaka, Japan. A Split Decision was awarded with scores of 112-116, 115-113, 112-116.
Prior to the December 3rd, 2013 bout, Kameda and his two brothers, Koki and Tomoki, set a record for siblings holding at least one world title simultaneously. Solis’s record now extends to 16 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw, while Kameda’s drops to 29 wins, 4 losses.
Despite being tipped a heavy favorite prior to the bout, and now likely possessing an even greater weight advantage on fight night, it seemed Solis would still be in for a tough meeting. Such things happen when faced with a stand-and-trade fighter such as Kameda.
Competitive through the majority of rounds, Kameda and Solis fought in a captivating bout that lifted the crowd on several occasions. Kameda, being the natural aggressor, charged his man down in the opening quarter, trying to overwhelm his opponent. Solis began to find his range and adapt, however, and soon became more of an elusive target capable of wearing down Kameda along the stretch.
During the middle rounds, Solis was landing frequently with straight punches, though his come-forward foe showed no signs of attrition after shaking them off defiantly. Kameda was no stranger to landing his shots, either, and often found success with chopping hooks to the mid section of Solis. High emotions allowed some brief ugliness to crawl into the ring, particularly when the referee had to warn both fighters for hitting on a break.
Despite being arguably outclassed in the rounds previous, Kameda remained a constant force when round 10 arrived. After hurling a vicious flurry, hometown fighter Kameda went to work on its visitor. Kameda effectively stormed his opponent, spoiled most returning shots, and threw looping hooks up and downstairs.
Solis’s savvy allowed himself to block many of the shots, but he certainly wasn’t having it all his way. As the 11th got underway, Solis upped his game and started to outshine his foe, even after taking a heavy left hook to the jaw. The final round saw Solis stick, move and box his way to victory over a plucky yet outclassed Kameda.
The outcome of the fight created an odd dynamic between winner and loser; Solis has won the bout, yet lost his title and therefore champion status, while Kameda lost the bout, but can still demand a high-profile fight due to remaining the IBF champion.
Both chief support bouts ended in Unanimous Decisions. Younger brother Tomoki Kameda held onto his WBO Bantamweight title by beating Immanuel Naidjala with scores of 119-109, 117-111, 118-110. Defending IBF Strawweight Champion Katsunari Takayama shutout overmatched Virgilio Silvano after receiving wide scores of 118-110, 120-108, 118-110.
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