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Bad-boy Kameda apologizes for rough fight

Japan's bad-boy boxer Daiki Kameda yesterday apologized to a world champion for a rough fight after coming under fresh fire for failing to say sorry in public.

The 18-year-old Kameda kicked, choked and repeatedly tackled World Boxing Council flyweight champion Daisuke Naito a week ago in a failed challenge to wrest his title.

Kameda "mustered up the strength" to visit Naito's home and offered an apology early yesterday, a manager for the Kameda family of boxers said.

Naito, a 33-year-old boxing veteran, accepted the apology.

"I was surprised that he visited me at home suddenly. But I felt his sincerity through his direct apology," Naito said in a statement.

The closed-door apology came a day after the teenager appeared at a nationally televised news conference but did not say a word and left after two minutes.

Kameda, who shaved off his flamboyant dyed hair to show his repentance, stared at the ground at the press conference as his father and trainer, Shiro Kameda, apologized for last Thursday's fight.

It was a drastically different scene for the famously bad-mouthed teenager, who had called the champion a "roach" before the title match and threatened to kill himself in a samurai-style ritual disembowelment if he lost.

But his failure to publicly say sorry failed to appease the public, with one sports daily blaring the headline, "No apology."

"It wasn't a press conference that met viewers' expectations," said Hideyuki Ohashi, who heads the East Japan Boxing Association that includes the Kyoei Gym where the Kameda family trains.

"Kyoei Gym was jammed with phone calls right after the press conference. Hundreds of protest calls also flooded the boxing association," Ohashi told the private Fuji television network.

Former WBA lightfly champion Katsuo Tokashiki told the Nikkan Sports Daily: "People must have thought, `What is this press conference?' He didn't say anything. He won't be able to get the world [title] unless he walks on his own feet."

The father and son had earlier apologized to the Japanese Boxing Commission, which has suspended Daiki for one year and indefinitely barred from being a cornerman his 42-year-old father, who has groomed his three sons to be aggressive and controversial boxers.
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