By Joe Koizumi

Just after the WBC flyweight unification title bout of Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Koki Kameda, there was a scandalous incident in the loser Kameda’s dressing room. His father Shiro Kameda, 43, who had been suspended indefinitely by the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC), called up JBC executive secretary Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, WBC supervisor Edward Thangarajah and the referee Guadalupe Garcia, and loudly shouted at them. He also threatened Yasukochi to have him fired. Shiro allegedly accused him of negligence for the referee not giving Pongsaklek a second penalization in the fifth round due to the WBC eye-cut rule.

In that session, the fighters’ heads collided with Kameda suffering a nasty gash over the right eyebrow, and Pongsaklek was deducted a point by the third man. They head-butted again in the round with Pongsaklek sustaining a slight cut over the left optic and Kameda suffering another laceration, so the said eye-cut rule shouldn’t be applied as both had gashes. Shiro, however, insisted, “The referee (Garcia) gestured a second deduction from Pongsaklek, but the supporting WBC supervisor (Yasukochi) ignored it and had it go on. Had Pongsaklek been penalized two points then, the outcome would have been different.”

The notorious father kept shouting to them for thirty minutes with our press people clearly hearing his angry voice in front of the dressing room. He kicked a chair and threatened the officials to apologize for their failure to properly supervise the title bout. Having finished his personal accusation to the JBC and the WBC, Shiro explained his anger to the press, “The referee said he penalized Pongsaklek twice, and Yasukochi apologized for that. I’ll have him fired for this mistake, and will file a protest with the WBC and demand a direct rematch.”

The JBC later had a press conference at 11 PM and Yasukochi made it clear. “It was right that the referee deducted a point only once, not twice. Upon the ref’s deduction of points, he (the third man) makes it a rule to confirm it to the judges, but he didn’t do so at the second head-butt.” Lupe Garcia, after midnight, also explained to the press, “It was my mistake that I said to Kameda people that I deducted two points from Pongsaklek in the fifth, as I was then confused and made a mistake. Only one penalization was right.”

Shiro Kameda had been suspended indefinitely by the JBC more than two years ago, because he instructed his other son Daiki Kameda to intentionally hit below the belt before the final round in the Daiki-Naito WBC flyweight title bout. His ridiculous instruction was detected by TBS TV’s microphone, so all the TV watchers heard his ill-intended guidance to Daiki. Also, Shiro had made occasional threats to JBC referee Uratani and his previous involvement in a riot at the Korakuen Hall. He lately applied for his trainer license to have his suspension revoked and work the corner of his sons. But his violence last night may give the JBC a second thought.