14 Million People Watched a Japanese Boxing Champ Fight Four Fans

In April, upstart Japanese online entertainment platform AbemaTV announced they would pit former three-weight world boxing champion Koki Kameda against four members of the public in a bid to win a jackpot of ¥10million (approx. $88,000).

To win the prize money, competitors would have to beat Kameda over three rounds of three minutes. Competitors were also restricted to be no taller than 175 centimetres (5'7") and weigh no more than 154lbs.

In his boxing career, Kameda captured the WBA light flyweight, WBC flyweight, and WBA bantamweight championships, but retired with a record of 33-1 in 2015 after losing a unanimous decision to 28-year old compatriot Kohei Kono.

Despite his in-ring success, Kameda is largely unpopular in his native Japan for his "unJapanese" behaviour inside and outside of the ring. "The Flying Fist of Osaka"—yes, Japan has the best fighter nicknames—is one of the few Japanese fighters to be a noted trash talker. Kameda was often accused of earning his fame through talking rather than his fighting ability in his early days, a point punctuated by the fact his first six opponents had a combined record of zero wins and 18 losses. In addition, Kemeda got in hot water for coaching his brother Daiki—another world champion in multiple weight classes—to elbow his opponent Daisuke Naito. Koki escaped punishment for that, but his brother and father both had their boxing licences suspended.

Both Kameda and AbemaTV played on the retired boxer's notoriety in the country, with his statement poking at the jabs he received from the press and fellow pugilists in the early days of his career. "Those who think it was easy for me to become world champion, here is your chance to take ¥10million from me," said a spiky Kameda in his press release.

Thousands of men applied and a "lucky" four would-be fighters were picked and announced in a grand press conference broadcast live by AbemaTV. The four participants—from left to right in the above image—were 25-year-old high school teacher Ryota Matsumoto, a club host known as "Kamikaze," a 26-year-old YouTuber whose name translates to JoeVlogs and 32-year-old gangster Yuuta.

First up for Kameda was Kamikaze, whose chin up defence and flailing arms wasn't enough for a trained fighter as Kameda dispatched him with a left hook to the body and brutal left hook to the head just two minutes 30 seconds in. Next was YouTuber Joe, who put up a much better fight, lasting until the third round before losing by TKO as the referee adjudged him to be suffering too much damage. School teacher Matsumoto lasted until the second round before suffering a TKO loss once a right hand sent him wobbly. Yuuta, a motorcycle gang general who is also supposedly a renowned street fighter, was last up for Kameda and took him to a decision with the boxer clearly not in the fighting shape he once enjoyed.

The four contestants failed to win their ¥10million jackpot with Kameda barely losing a round.

Other than for fighting pride and proving the critical Japanese press wrong, there wasn't a prize on offer for Kameda. The big winners were AbemaTV. The fights may have taken place in a dingy looking school hall gym, but over 14million people watched Kameda on their digital network—most likely hoping he'd lose—a viewing figure so large it crashed the broadcaster's servers.

The Japanese fighting scene may appear odd from the outside, but remember this event isn't too dissimilar to the competition held by American boxing legend Roy Jones Jr., who offered a $100,000 prize to any unknown amateurs if they could beat him. Vyron Phillips, who had a 5-3 MMA record, was selected and was promptly knocked out within two rounds in front of a packed crowd and broadcast on pay-per-view.

There's a taste for this as combat sports in general further embraces shock value as a means of promotion. With extensive press coverage and the public's unrelenting interest in Kameda despite his time away from boxing, it looks like this competition could be a regular fixture on Japan's combat sports calendar in the future.