a well placed knee to the body. On December 18, 2018, Kaneko vacated the title, as he moved up in weight to super bantamweight. Move up to super bantamweight Kaneko was scheduled to fight Shuhei Kumura at K-1's flagship event K’FESTA 2 on March 10, 2019. The fight was ruled a draw, after the first three rounds were contested, with all three judges scoring the fight an even 29–29. Kaneko had knocked Kumura down once in the second round, but was himself knocked down twice in the second round as well. Kaneko was awarded the unanimous decision after an extra fourth round was fought, with all three judges scoring the fight 10–9 for Kaneko. It was later revealed that Kaneko had suffered a broken hand during the bout. Kaneko faced Yuta Hayashi at Krush 104 on August 31, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 30-29 and 30–28. Kaneko fought the reigning Krush Super Bantamweight champion Masashi Kumura at K-1 World GP 2020: K’Festa 3 on March 22, 2020. Kumura handed Kanko his first professional loss, winning the fight by majority decision, with scores of 30–29, 30-30 and 30–28. Kaneko was scheduled to fight Momotaro Kiyama at K-1 World GP 2021: K’Festa 4 Day.2 on March 28, 2021. The fight came a year after his loss to Kumura. They were originally scheduled to fight at K-1: K’Festa 4 on January 24, 2021, before the fight was postponed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Kaneko won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. He knocked Kiyama down in the third minute of the round, after which Kiyama's corner threw in the towel. During the post-fight interview, Kaneko stated his desire to fight for the vacant K-1 Super Bantamweight title. Kaneko was scheduled to face the former Krush Bantamweight champion Koki at K-1 World GP 2021: Yokohamatsuri on September 20, 2021. The two of them previously fought at Krush.72 on January 15, 2017, with Kaneko winning by a third-round knockout. Kaneko won the fight by a first-round technical knockout. He completely dominated the bout, successfully dropping Koki three times by the 2:35 minute mark the first round. K-1 super bantamweight champion Super bantamweight Grand Prix On February 27, 2022, K-1 announced that Kaneko would be one of eight participants in the 2022 Super Bantamweight World Grand Prix, which was held at K-1 World GP 2022 Japan on February