The Sunday fight between Daisuke Naito and Koki Kameda did magnificent TV ratings as expected in Japan, with the fight averaging 43.1% and peaking at 52.1% on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System).

The fight was billed as the "Japanese Fight of the Century," and not only lived up to it with its insanely impressive TV performance, but lived up to it in the ring, too. It may not have been a Fight of the Year contender or anything, but it was a very intense fight, an impressive boxing display by Kameda, and a valiant effort from Naito.

This once again just goes to show that when you look past the United States, boxing is not just doing well, but it's thriving. It does so for different reasons than when it does well in the United States. Other countries see their boxing stars as sports heroes still, while in the United States, a guy like Floyd Mayweather can possess great skills and even become a crossover mainstream star, but he's still not LeBron James or Adrian Peterson or anything like that. In Denmark, Mikkel Kessler is a genuinely major star. In Japan, Naito, Hasegawa, Kameda -- all major stars. In Australia, guys like Anthony Mundine, Danny Green and Daniel Geale do great business. In the UK, several boxers have very dedicated followings, from Ricky Hatton to Carl Froch and on down the line. Germany regularly has massive crowds for guys like Felix Sturm, Arthur Abraham, and so on, and Sturm rarely even fights what many consider to be a legit challenge. Canada has become a hotbed with guys like Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal, Adrian Diaconu and Steve Molitor, and Molitor is the only one even born in Canada.

It's a different game in other countries, and I always find it interesting to watch international fights and witness just how different it is, in terms of presentation, intensity in the crowd, atmosphere, etc.

Simply put, the eyes on Naito-Kameda blow away the eyes in the States that watched Cotto-Pacquiao or Mayweather-Marquez, the two biggest shows of the year on American soil.

Koki Kameda put the final stamp on a busy, eventful and exciting weekend of boxing by defeating rival Daisuke Naito in Saitama, Japan, taking Naito's WBC flyweight title, staying undefeated, and almost surely silencing some of his critics.

Kameda (22-0, 14 KO) won by unanimous decision. Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-112 for the young challenger, who used speed, accurate punching, and boxing class to topple Naito.

For Naito (35-3-3, 22 KO), this was no big time fall from grace. In fact, Naito looked no older today than he has in his other recent fights. At 35, he's slowing down. That's natural. But he's still a world-class fighter at 112 pounds, and proved that.

This was less a show that Naito was too old than it was a passing of the torch in a lot of ways. Kameda is the real deal. His counter punching was outstanding, he stayed controlled the entire fight, and unlike the ferocious killer Kameda we've seen before, he recognized that Naito wasn't one of those slugs he'd sparked in the past. Despite any out of the ring trash talk, Kameda clearly respected Naito as a fighter.

It's a terrific win for Kameda, as it fully legitimizes him on the world stage. For my money, there really isn't a better flyweight out there. I think with his youth, speed, power, and the fact that he's going to get better, he's a step ahead of the rest of the division right now. It's nothing against fighters like Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Denkaosan Kaovichit or Omar Narvaez, it's just that those guys are in their mid-30s. Kameda's an explosive fighter who coasted through 12 rounds of a fight that wasn't easy. His conditioning was superb.

By the end of the bout, Naito was tired, his nose appeared broken, and he had clearly been in a fight. Kameda barely looked any different than when he hit the ring to the sweet, sweet sounds of Survivor's "Burning Heart."

This wraps up what was an abnormally ridiculous weekend for us at BLH. We covered six cards in three days, plus watched the main event of a seventh (Molina-Honorio on Shobox). It was fun.

Some personal highlights for me from this weekend's massive slate of shows:

• Anthony Small's ludicrously bad fight with Thomas McDonagh on Friday was highlighted, in my view, by one of the many moments that neither man was throwing a punch, much less landing one. It came when Small, doing one of his "look at me entertain!" dance numbers, tripped on the ring apron, and during his fall, mule kicked the ring bell. Falling down is embarrassing enough. Falling down and kicking the bell, which makes a noise everyone hears, is truly hilarious.
• Lennox Lewis referring to Ali Funeka's tough luck on his second trip to America. The fight was in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
• Barry McGuigan's overbearing fascination with Yassine El Maachi (11-4, 5 KO). To hear McGuigan tell it, we're looking at Prince Naseem mixed with Roy Jones Jr.
• This quote from Lucian Bute, after he knocked out Librado Andrade: "Librado Andrade is a great person. He’s a great fighter and he will stay my friend for life."
• The atmosphere at Saitama Super Arena. There are all kinds of "great atmosphere" for a big fight, but the energy from a Japanese fight or puroresu crowd is so much different than in other parts of the world.

The Bad Left Hook Thanksgiving Weekend Globe Trot comes to an end this morning starting at 5:58am ET. Here's where we've seen since Friday:

Wigan, England: Anthony Small v. Thomas McDonagh
Ełk, Poland: Delvin Rodriguez v. Rafal Jackiewicz
Panama City, Panama: Luis Concepcion v. Roberto Leyval
Brentwood, England: Darren Barker v. Danny Butler
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada: Lucian Bute v. Librado Andrade II / Joan Guzman v. Ali Funeka

It all finishes off with the biggest fight of the weekend in Saitama, Japan.

DAISUKE NAITO		KOKI KAMEDA
	Main Event

When one thinks of the biggest fights of 2009, obviously Cotto-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Marquez and Hatton-Pacquiao will spring to mind immediately. But in terms of the sheer number of eyes watching a fight, perhaps no fight globally in 2009 has been, is, or can be bigger than the Sunday morning showdown between Daisuke Naito and Koki Kameda at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

The bad blood between WBC flyweight titlist Naito and Japanese boxing's baddest boy Kameda goes back years, and starts with Naito's 2007 fight against Koki's brother, Daiki. Naito clearly outclassed Daiki in the fight, and was fouled frequently. At the end, Daiki and his father were suspended after the Kameda family essentially attempted to assault Naito. Daiki even slammed Naito to the ground, picking him up by the waist to do so. Daiki was suspended for a year. His father was suspended indefinitely.

Koki got off with a warning, but was not without fault. TV cameras caught him telling Daiki to elbow Naito in the eye.

So yeah, this one's a little bit personal.

Beyond the genuine dislike, this is a fight that pits philosophies. Naito is regarded as a gentleman, a credit to Japanese boxing and the sport in general. His series of fights with Thai living legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam turned him into a superstar. And then there's Koki, perhaps the rudest and crudest Japanese fighter of them all.

To truly understand how loathed he is, you have to at least sort of "get" the cultural differences. What may seem to be "cool" in a bad guy way in America is truly disgraceful from a famous Japanese athlete. And Kameda ups the ante. Were Floyd Mayweather Jr. on his worst behavior a Japanese fighter, he might approach Kameda, who speaks with a brash arrogance that is perhaps unrivaled throughout the boxing world.

But ignoring all of the great dramatic reasons this fight is so huge, how might it play out?

Naito is a fine, fine boxer, and while his KO rate isn't exceptional and he doesn't seem like the hardest puncher, there's some pop. Back in 2004, Naito defended his Japanese flyweight title against Takeyuki Kojima. It was the fastest knockout ever in a Japanese title fight:

But truthfully, if you're looking for the ferocious puncher of the two, it's Kameda, who has some sharp highlights of his own:

There are a few factors I think really will make this fight go one way or the other.

Kameda: Hype or Legit?

At 23, Kameda has a 21-0 (14 KO) record, but has been criticized by several of Japan's top boxers as being untested and not as good as advertised. Many have said they'd love to fight him. Naito is a VERY big step up in class for Kameda. Even considering that fighters in Japan, Thailand, etc., tend to have softer looking records than we're used to, Kameda's record is soft.

Personally, I think Kameda is the real deal. He's a ferocious fighter, and so far his style has backed up his big talk. That said, you have to wonder what happens if he's faced with a man that doesn't crumble quickly, and what happens when he gets hit back. Does he pull the cliche bully bit and back down? Does he tear back at Naito?

Naito: Age May Be a Concern

At 35, Naito is no spring chicken. He knows that, too, and as far as freshness, Kameda has a big advantage. Naito has been through some tough fights over his 13-year professional career. Kameda has been through just one, against Juan Jose Landaeta in 2006, a disputed split decision win for Kameda.

But Naito's wars with Wonjongkam and plenty of other tough distance fights give some cause for concern. He was given much more of a battle from China's Xiong Zhao Zhong than most expected in his last fight in May. Is he on the downside?

These questions and more will be answered in just a few hours. I may be in the minority here, and if it turns out Kameda isn't the fighter I think he is, this pick might look just plain stupid. But I'm going with Kameda by late stoppage. Bad Left Hook will be here at 5:58am ET for live, round-by-round coverage and scoring. If you're nuts enough, we hope you'll join us.