Boxing on TV this weekend: Tomoki Kameda vs Alejandro Hernandez

After the overwhelming choice of boxing on television last weekend, this Saturday night is rather more sedate, with just one live card on offer for the viewing public

Kameda vs Hernandez, Saturday night, BoxNation

It’s hard to believe now, but little more than two years ago the three Kameda brothers were the biggest sports stars in Japan, with their fights regularly attracting tens of millions of viewers, as large swathes of the country ground to a standstill when they performed in the ring.

However, like many combat sports in Japan, from Pride’s MMA extravaganza of the 90’s, and sumo wrestling before it, the boxing boom couldn’t last, and as the brothers grew more and more controversial, the public simply switched off.

This leads to two of the three brothers competing in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday night, as Tomoki, the most levelheaded of the three, and Koki, the wildcard, compete at the UIC Pavillion.

Tomoki headlines the bill, defending his WBO World bantamweight title, and his perfect 30-0 record against 28-10-2 Alejandro Hernandez, who surprisingly won an interim version of the belt back in June against Daniel Rosas.

This will be Tomoki’s second appearance on American soil after he defeated Pungluang Sor Singyu on the undercard of Saul Alvarez vs Erislandy Lara back in July, and he also has experience of fighting in Mexico, with 16 of his 30 career fights having taken place there, and the Japanese star known as ‘El Mexicanito’ has been training in the country since he was 16.

Kameda will be looking for this as a showcase fight for himself, but he is unlikely to be seeking the knockout. Although Hernandez has 10 defeats on his record, only one has come via stoppage, and that was due to a hand injury against Leo Santa Cruz back in 2012.

Chief support sees 25-3 Andrzej Fonfara returning to action against Doudou Ngumbu.

Fonfara surprised many in his last fight against Adonis Stevenson, knocking down the world champion before ultimately losing on points in a fight he was expected to be knocked out in.

Originally from Poland, he now fights out of Chicago, and will be keen to return to winning ways in front of his hometown fans against 33-5 French light heavyweight Doudou Ngumbu, who has lost three of his career contests either by split, or majority decision.

Ngumbu has only won two of his last 12 wins via stoppage, while Fonfara has stopped 12 of his last 14 opponents.

Opening the televised portion of the card is a super featherweight clash between 25-0-1 Javier Fortuna, who is most known for beating Ireland’s Patrick Hyland for an interim world featherweight title, against Puerto Rico’s 18-2 Abner Cotto, who has lost two of his last four fights.

Elsewhere on the card, Koki Kameda continues his efforts to win a fourth world title, while exciting middleweight Caleb Truax is also in action.

In other boxing action around the world this week, the return of Shannon Briggs as a heavyweight force of sorts carries on, as he hunts for his sixth win of 2014 and his 57th win in total, and to step closer to a proposed bout with Wladimir Klitschko.