Former two-division world champion Tomoki Kameda of TRYBOX Heisei Nishiyama Gym said on May 17 he will face William Encarnacion of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round featherweight nontitle fight on July 30 at Kobe City Chuo Gymnasium in Hyogo Prefecture’s Kobe, western Japan.

This will be the first time for the 30-year-old Kameda to fight ever since he joined the TRYBOX gym last month after leaving 3150 (Saiko) Fight Club run by his eldest brother Koki Kameda at the end of March this year.

Speaking before a group of reporters at the gym in the prefecture’s Nishinomiya, Kameda, currently ranked third in the World Boxing Association’s super bantamweight, said, ‘’I wasn’t expecting that I could have a fight so early. This is the first time I will have a fight at featherweight, a division above the super bantamweight, and since my opponent is a hard puncher, I think winning him will give me confidence.’’

The fight is regarded as a preliminary battle for Kameda’s world title challenge at super bantamweight.
‘’Ever since I joined the gym, I have been able to concentrate only on boxing, including sparring sessions since May. Since this will be my last chance considering the fact that I will turn 31 this year. I don’t think I can continue fighting for another 10 years. So, I want to make it count.’’

‘’Since my opponent is bigger than me, I will take on him with a sense of danger. He looks rangy and tough. So, in my sparring sessions, I will pay more attention to the content of the sparring rather than the number of rounds. I am determined to improve my capability,’’ Kameda, who is nicknamed El Mexicanito, added.

Kazushi Nishiyama, who had served as Tomoki’s trainer at 3150 club, and the present head of the TRYBOX gym, said, ‘’Since we have brought in two sparring partners from the Philippines, he (Tomoki) can engage himself in a substantial training. I hope he can strengthen his presence (through the fight).

The 33-year-old Encarnacion took part in the 2012 London Olympics and is a former World Boxing Council Latin America super bantamweight champion. He has a 19-2 win-loss record with 15 knockouts.
As for Kameda, a former World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion and a former WBC super-bantamweight interim titlist, has a 38-3 win-loss tally with 20 KOs. He is the youngest of the so-called three Kameda brothers including his second-eldest brother Daiki.