Japanese undisputed champion Naoya Inoue has produced another consistent and solid performance after defeating unheralded American contender Ramon Cardenas in his return to the United States. Headlining at the prestigious T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 4th, Inoue solidified his status as a pound-for-pound fighter after soundly defeating Cardenas. The card was promoted by Top Rank.
Naoya Inoue vs. Ramon Cardenas
With decently-rated American contender Ramon Cardenas (26-2, 14 KO’s) chosen for Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 KO’s) as an opponent to defend his undisputed super bantamweight (122 lbs) titles against, the Japanese champion encountered a slight hick-up in USA return as he suffered a knockdown in the 2nd round before soundly winning every round after.
Except for the 2nd round, virtually every other round belonged to Inoue as his aggressive yet controlled pressure of combination punches could eventually not be withstood by Cardenas. The 2nd round knockdown that Inoue suffered was due to a lapse of concentration, similar to the knockdown he suffered against Luis Nery last year, occurring when Inoue was pressuring Cardenas in the last 10 seconds of the round.
Cardenas’ left hook, from the orthodox stance, dropped Inoue and forced the undisputed champion to make adjustments in the following round where he reigned in some of his aggressiveness to employ a high guard. Despite this, Inoue gradually stepped up his activity following the 3rd round which went largely in his favor, using his controlled pressure to keep Cardenas on the backfoot and on the defensive ― a position Cardenas could not adapt to.
As the rounds continued, Inoue’s pressure grew more relentless as he broke his opponent down per usual with his combinations. By the 8th round of their 12-round fight, Cardenas had received little opportunity to retaliate and soon found himself facing an onslaught of clean punches left unanswered. Driven to the brink of a knockdown and having already suffered a plethora of punches prior, the stoppage occurred within the minute of the 8th round’s start as the referee eventually interceded to stop the fight.
The stoppage was naturally controversial as Cardenas had not yet been knocked down, despite clearly being wobbled in the 8th and the rounds before, but the damage he accrued during the fight largely justified the referee’s decision to stop the fight.
Naoya Inoue was announced the winner by technical knockout (TKO) in the 8th round after, successfully defending his four 122-pound titles as a result whilst maintaining his undefeated record.
Undercard fights:
In the co-main event, Mexican WBO featherweight (126 lbs) champion Rafael Espinoza (27-0, 23 KO’s) had great success defending his title against American contender Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KO’s) as he stopped Vazquez in the 7th round of their 12-round bout to retain his title.
Another featherweight fight occurred and saw American contender Ra’eese Aleem (22-1, 12 KO’s) continue on his quest to become a world title challenger as he soundly defeated his non-ranked fellow countryman, Rudy Garcia (13-2-1, 2 KO’s), over the 10-scheduled rounds to maintain his position as a highly-rated contender.
At welterweight (147 lbs), rising Dominican Republic contender Rohan Polanco (16-0, 10 KO’s) has drawn plenty of eyes as he defeated Argentinian contender Fabian Maidana (24-4, 18 KO’s), younger brother of Argentinian legend Marcos Maidana, by unanimous decision ― winning every round according to all three judges who scored the fight 100-89 in Polanco’s favor in lieu of the knockdown Maidana suffered in the last and 10th round.
