Japan's Kameda to fight against Ruiz

TOKYO (AFP) –

World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Koki Kameda, pictured here in 2011, will take on top contender Hugo Ruiz of Mexico in a title match on December 4 in the Japanese city of Osaka, his handlers said Tuesday.

World Boxing Association bantamweight champion Koki Kameda will take on top contender Hugo Ruiz of Mexico in a title match on December 4 in the Japanese city of Osaka, his handlers said Tuesday.

The bout will be the Japanese fighter’s fifth defence of the champion’s belt since beating Alexander Munoz of Venezuela in December 2010 to win a vacated title.

The 25-year-old Kameda had been sidelined after fracturing both his fists in his fourth defence of the title in April.

“I’m in good form. I want to end this year by showing my best performance,” said Kameda.

Kameda has 28 wins, 17 of them inside the distance, to his credit against one defeat. The 26-year-old challenger has 31 wins, including 28 KOs, and one loss.

Ruiz, the top contender in the WBA bantam division, has also held the division’s interim championship, which he won in January last year.

Such interim titles are contested by high-ranked boxers in WBA and other major organisations when full champions are temporarily unable to fight for injuries and other reasons that are beyond their control.

The Kameda-Ruiz fight is designed as a bout to “reunify” their division under a sole champion.