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          Dan Rafael Blog

          Kameda vacates bantamweight title

          The WBO ruled the Tomoki Kameda-Jamie McDonnell fight will not be a title unification bout. Josh Hedges/Getty Images
          • Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior WriterApr 23, 2015, 05:29 PM ET
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            • 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism
            • ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
            • Five years at USA Today
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          Japan’s Tomoki Kameda (31-0, 19 KOs) has vacated his bantamweight world title, according to WBO president Paco Valcarcel.

          The move comes days after the WBO declined to sanction his fight with England’s Jamie McDonnell (25-2-1, 12 KOs) as a title unification fight because McDonnell holds a secondary title, not the WBA’s top belt. The fight will still go ahead on May 9 (CBS) in Hidalgo, Texas.

          Kameda won the belt by brutal seventh-round knockout of Pungluang Sor Singyu in July 2014 and went on to make one defense, a split decision against then-interim titleholder Alejandro Hernandez in November.

          The vacant title is due to be filled by the winner of a proposed fight between Sor Singyu (49-3, 33 KOs), of Thailand, and Japan’s Ryo Akaho (26-1-2, 18 KOs). They have 15 days to negotiate a deal or a purse bid will be called.