Is Koki Kameda the Japanese Floyd Mayweather, Jr.?

Question

I ask, because, much like the Mayweather family (save for Jeff, who's class) the Kameda Family in Japan is disliked by many. Here's an article writted about what Kameda's father, the controversial Shiro Kameda, had to say to the JBC (Japanese Boxing Council) after his son's loss at the hands of Pongsaklek Wonjongkam:

"The aftermath of the WBC flyweight title bout of Pongsaklek Wonjongkam defeating Koki Kameda last Saturday has become more and more scandalous day after day here in Japan. Kameda’s father Shiro, under the JBC’s indefinite suspension, shouted at the WBC supervisor Edward Thangarajah, a highly respected executive member of the Council, accusing him of his supervision on the said title bout. Tokyo Sports front-paged this scandal that happened in the dressing room after Kameda’s well-received and obvious loss admitted by the whole crowd. Edward was quoted as saying, “I have never received such a disgusted humiliation by any boxing person in my forty-five-year boxing life of covering more than one thousand bouts. His barbarous behavior was a serious slander to the WBC. He disgracefully shouted and almost punched the JBC representative. He must understand that boxing is a sport of gentlemen. I’ll report all what really occurred that night in detail to our president Dr. Jose Sulaiman.”
Nikkan Sports mentioned a possibility of Shiro Kameda to be expelled from the boxing world because of his thirty-minute threat to the JBC executive secretary and WBC sub-supervisor Tsuyoshi Yasukochi for his logical and well-supported negligence of the referee Lupe Garcia’s alleged second penalization on Pongsaklek in the fifth round.
Sports Hochi also suggested the JBC’s possible penalty to Shiro by forbidding him to enter the arena on any fight of his sons (Koki, WBA 112-pound champ Daiki and unbeaten prospect Tomoki) as he is to be designated as dangerous and undesirable person.
Japan Pro Boxing Association (JPBA), the union of licensed club owners, will call an emergency executive meeting to discuss the heavy penalty on the future activity of the Kameda Gym by reproving it for failing to control the mad-dog-like Shiro.
Hiroyuki Miyata, the impresario of Miyata Promotion that staged the Kameda-Pongsaklek title go, revealed that the surprisingly sparse crowd was only 1,900, which showed Kameda’s unpopularity among our boxing aficionados. He pointed out that what accounted for the previous big audience in the Kameda-Daisuke Naito bout last November was just Naito’s nationwide popularity as well as people’s expectation on his victory over the bad boy Kameda.
Why are Kameda brothers hated by the general public? Simply because they are not sportsmanlike. Kameda makes it a rule (ritual) at the weigh-in to shake hand with his opponent with full force to hurt the hand and intimidate him. Kameda once roughly appeared to the press conference, eating a Kentucky fried chicken, and said to his rival, “Can you eat now like this?” Kameda always ridicules his opponent with dirty words, which the Japanese culture dislikes. Kameda, after the weigh-in, usually gives an awesome stare to his opponent, and if he turns his eyes away, he triumphantly shouts, “You’re a coward!” They are antisocial rather than childish, which is absolutely against what we expect professional boxers to be with our old tradition in the wake of Yoshio Shirai, Fighting Harada, Masao Ohba, etc. Our hero should be humble, modest and strong, unlike Kameda.
Kameda is a strange boxing figure. Many people won’t buy tickets to profit the arrogant Kameda family, but they watch the bad boy’s fight on television, so the TV ratings are high probably because they are eager to see the big-mouthed Kameda beaten. Despite high television ratings, strange enough, very few sponsors financially give support to Kameda’s boxing programs chiefly due to his bad manner and impaired reputation therefore. Definitely it is a misunderstanding that foreign media think Kameda is popular here. He is just notorious and flamboyant. Almost all active Japanese boxers also dislike Kameda, since they are afraid that people think them to be as ill-mannered as Kameda. Since his appearance on the paid ranks, the bad boy has destroyed and deteriorated the dignity of boxing here.
We would like to watch and wait for the JBC’s punishment on Shiro Kameda and the Kameda Gym as well, since our commission has to definitely prevent any boxing people from acting like the notorious father in showing his displeasure with any official verdict.
http://www.fightnews.com/?p=41467

I never truly realized just how much teh Kameda family was disliked. But after reading this, espcially in regards to Koki Kameda, I must ask, is Kameda the Japanese version of Pretty Boy Floyd?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Sir, I have been to Japan three times in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. I can tell you very much, boxing is serious business to the Japanese. In fact I do believe that boxing is much more mainstream in Japan than in the United States. To sell fights, the Japanese media try and lure fans by building a villain. The Japanese is a very humble society and being egoistical and arrogant is almost a violation of the social norms. However, the Japanese populace are well aware that boxers are only starting some level of rivalry to increase the intensity of the fight. The Kameda family is doing it to enhance more interest, since Daisuke Naito and Hozumi Hasegawa are currently ruling Japan's boxing domain, until ofcourse the loss of Naito to Koki Kameda. 

Mayweather Jr. is of a different level. His arrogance and irresposible actions are often supported by some of his fans or the media. The American public loves controversies and thrash talking. In Japan, it is not an expected behavior among Japanese fighter, but with the impact of globalization, it is becoming more and more congruent to Japanese behavior, since the media has radicalized in post WWII.

I would not compare the Kameda family to the Mayweather family. Their similarities is perhaps parallel to their unsportsmanlike behavior, but the Mayweather family have more of a notorious reputation of being thrash talkers and display of immoral activities. 

Thank you my friend for such a very interesting article. I learned so much. Always a pleasure sir. :-)

Killa from Manila (2nd Account) · Answer

Kameda is overreacting. When I see him during the weigh in, he reminds me of Shinya Aoki. He tries to play the villain role but does a bad job. Koki Kameda is trying to gain some popularity and he got all cocky after he beat Daisuke Naito who has been in a lot of battles before. Now Wonjongkam easily schooled him, and even the Japanese probably liked that. 

As far as the comparison to Mayweather, it's not close. Kameda does a bad job playing the villain, Mayweather is naturally an evil personality.

Anonymous · Answer

Koki Kameda and Mayweather are a lot alike, but Mayweather is much worse when it comes to thrash talking.

dragnei · Answer

To give Floyd Jr. his credit, I dont think he is that much of a punk as the media portrays him to be. He does intentionally act like a punk though which is annoying and inexcusable but, nonetheless he is a gracious winner after the fight. And at the very least his arrogance compliments his skills. I never questioned his skills, only the level of competition he chooses to be in. As for his family? Well they are thugs from the ghetto hood, and forever they remain that way in every way.

Kameda on the other hand is just an ill mannered thug who laced up his gloves period. I work with japanese people everyday, and japanese people are very modest. Even they would be ashamed to be associated with him. Plus he is no where near floyd in the level of skills. He got exposed by Pongsaklek who is not even a A-level fighter. Imagine what guys like Ivan Calderon or even Villoria would do to him.

Is Koki Kameda the Japanese Floyd Mayweather, Jr.?

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