Doncaster’s Jamie McDonnell defeated Japan’s Tomoki Kameda for a second time yesterday, once again walking away with a 12-round unanimous decision – scores of 117-110, 116-111 and a closer 115-112. However, as was the case with the first fight between McDonnell and Kameda back in May, some people feel yesterday’s decision was somewhat controversial.
Some good judges, such as Virgil Hunter and Dan Rafael, had Kameda winning, and Kameda’s trainer – the newly hired Ismael Salas – also feels McDonnell received a fortunate points victory.
Salas speaks about yesterday’s fight and its decision here:
Q: Commiserations on the defeat yesterday. How did you see the fight and was the result fair in your opinion?
Ismael Salas: “First of all I do not like to take anything away from Jamie McDonnell. But from my own point of view, and that of all boxing experts who watched the fight, Kameda won seven of the 12 rounds. Kameda should have finally got the win but instead it was, once more, a controversial decision in McDonnell’s favour.”
Q: What about the knockdown ruling Kameda suffered in the last round, was it a factor at all?
I.S: “No, that was just a slip. Kameda was not hurt at all.”
Q: What is next for Kameda, this was your first fight together?
I.S: “Kameda will just keep working. He has to keep his flow going, he is only 24 and he can look forward to a better future. He still has much he can improve on.”
Q: Will he stay at bantamweight?
I.S: “Yes. I have requested from him that we should have some more time to work [together] and then we can have one more trial fight. The key is to just keep working.”
