Lerato Dlamini is confident that the rematch against Tomoki Kameda will be a replay rather than revenge.
Dlamini and Kameda will face off in a 12-round IBF featherweight title fight on Saturday at the Yamato Arena in Suita (Osaka Prefecture), Japan. Their second act will once again stream live on ABEMA TV, as well as in Africa on DAZN (9am UK/ 4am ET).
At Friday’s weigh-in, Dlamini weighed 125.2 pounds. Kameda came in at 125.7 pounds.
Colin Nathan, who trains and manages Dlamini, is confident his charge can once again do the job on foreign soil. In doing so, the resurgent contender will set his sights on a clash with newly crowned IBF world featherweight titleholder Angelo Leo.
“Preparations have gone exceptionally well, and if anything, we’ve put in a tougher training camp this time,” Nathan told The Ring early Friday morning. “We expect Kameda to be more aggressive and start faster for this rematch. However, whatever he does, we will have an answer for (him) and beat him in every department.”
Dlamini (20-2, 11 knockouts), who lives in Linksfield, South Africa, scored a win over Kameda on October 7. The fight took place in Tokyo, Japan.
The 30-year-old Dlamini has won his last two bouts since losing a close decision to James Dickens in October 2022.
Earlier this year, the IBF ordered Dlamini to fight Arnold Khegai in a title eliminator. Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) won the purse on April 30 at the behest of Nathan. The plan was to promote the card on July 13 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Nathan lives and trains his fighters out of his privately owned gym.
Khegai, who recently signed a promotional deal with Top Rank, decided to go the WBO route. He is currently number 1 by the sanctioning body.
Osaka’s Kameda (41-4, 23 KOs) last fought on March 31, stopping Kevin Villanueva after round five. Prior to the loss to Dlamini, Kameda had won his previous four fights since a unanimous decision loss to then-WBC world junior featherweight titleholder Rey Vargas in July 2019.
The 33-year-old won the WBO world featherweight title in August 2013, defeating Paulus Ambunda by unanimous decision. Kameda made three successful defenses before being stripped of the title by facing secondary WBA titleholder Jamie McDonnell in September 2015. McDonnell beat Kameda twice.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
