Koki Kameda v Hugo Ruiz

Koki's Kristmas Kame(da) Early

 Christmas came early for WBA Bantamweight champion Koki Kameda (29-1, 17) who got given a gift wrapped present from the judges as he claimed a split decision victory over hard punching Mexican Hugo Ruiz (31-2, 28). A fight that some feel may well go down as one of, if not the, robbery of the year.

Ruiz came out knowing he needed to make an early impression and that's exactly what he did using his reach and power to keep Kameda at a safe distance whilst seeming to bag the opening 5 rounds with little real effort. Kameda, giving away noticeable size and reach simply couldn't get at Ruiz in the early part of the fight as Mexican showed his world class ability.

It wasn't until round 6 that you could make a case for Kameda to have even won a round as he started to get close to the Mexican. Sadly despite winning the round Kameda did himself no favours as he landed a clear blow well after the bell as he proved to class one would expect from such a distinguished fighter.

Kameda was made to pay for his cheap shot as Ruiz came out fired up for round 7, a round that he clearly won, much like he had won the opening 5. It was hard to score it any other way than 69-64 through the first 7 rounds in favour of Ruiz, the rounds were easy to score at this point and it should have left Kameda needing at least a knockdown at some point to claim a victory, something he failed to get.

Although Kameda failed to drop Ruiz, he did start to get more and more success as Ruiz's work rate began to drop however the championship rounds saw both men really fighting on even terms, the only rounds in the bout which were really up for debate.

Th first scorecard, 117-113 for Ruiz seemed about spot on, though the other two scorecards, 116-113 and 115-113 in favour of Kameda were simply disgraceful. At very best Kameda deserved a draw (and that's giving him everything you possibly could), though in all honesty he really should have suffered his second defeat and by very clear scores.

I'd advise all fighters to avoid facing Kameda on this showing. It's not the first time he's had a controversial decision go his way with his 2008 victory over Juan Jose Landaeta loudly criticised and likewise his victory last year over David De La Mora. For Ruiz however it was proof that he deserved to be mentioned amongst the top fighters at 118lbs.

Hugo Ruiz v Jean Sampson

Exciting Mexican Hugo Ruiz (31-1, 28) successfully defended his "Interim" WBA Bantamweight title for the 4th time by knocking out undeserving Nicaraguan Jean Sampson (12-2, 7) in the 9th round. Ruiz, who won the title in January 2011 (by winning a technical decision over Alvaro Perez) is now on an impressive 22 fight winning streak since the solitary reverse on his record back in 2007 to Enrique Quevedo (LTKO4).

Whilst I love watching Hugo Ruiz (who is flawed but has that sort of must power) I must question quite what the WBA were thinking by having Jean Sampson fighting for their title.

Samspon, who made his debut back in 2009 had opened his career with 11 straight wins including 2 controversial ones over Nicaraguan journeyman Rafael Castillo (who currently has a record of 5-12-3, 3), all of those fights taking place Sampson's native Nicaragua. Sampson's first fight outside of Nicaragua was in Panama against Venazuelan Yonfrez Parejo and not only was it the first title bout of Sampson's career but it was actually his first bout scheduled for more than 6 rounds. Parejo dominated Sampson taking a clear decision over 11 rounds for the WBA Fedelatin Bantamweight title. Following this loss Samspon managed to score just a single win, a DQ over 42 year old former Minimumweight and Light Flyweight champion Rosendo Alvarez, a fighter who hadn't been active in over 6 years!

It was hardly surprising that Sampson who simply didn't deserve his title fight didn't manage to defeat the very exciting Ruiz who has been developed very well so far in his career. Hopefully Ruiz manages to get a notable fight in the US in the next year or two and gets the chance to be seen by a much bigger audience than regularly gets to see him as he is out and out fun!