After two days in which international boxing showed a rather disappointing face, marked by dull and uneventful fights that betrayed expectations, the “Monster” Naoya Inoue set things right. The Japanese superstar successfully defended his four super bantamweight world titles against the excellent challenger Ramon Cardenas in an exciting and thrilling match. Inoue got up from a heavy knockdown and went on to demolish his opponent, scoring a technical knockout in the eighth round.
Many had raised eyebrows when Ramon Cardenas was officially announced as Inoue’s next opponent, replacing Alan Picasso. Despite having strung together a long streak of victories in recent years, the Texan was not particularly well known to the general public, leading many to view him as an inadequate challenger headed for a quick beating.
But from the first round, it became clear that Cardenas knew what he was doing in the ring. Protected by a high guard, the American showed excellent hand speed in a round largely defined by both fighters trying to impose their jab.
Just as he did in the first round against Luis Nery a year ago, Inoue was overconfident and, in the second round, began attacking Cardenas too carelessly—perhaps with the intention of scoring a quick KO.
However, the challenger, still fresh, absorbed the flurries calmly and waited for the right moment to punish Inoue’s overconfidence. That moment came just before the bell, when Cardenas landed a brutal left hook that sent the Japanese ace to the canvas.
Inoue got up immediately but seemed shaken and no doubt silently thanked Lady Luck for the sound of the bell, which spared him from a follow-up assault.
The one-minute break was enough to allow the champion to fully recover his composure. After a cautious start to the third round, Inoue went back on the attack, trading fiercely at the end of the round and showing he was back in the fight.
But Cardenas’s high guard wasn’t enough to withstand the “Monster’s” destructive fury. From the fourth round onward, Inoue’s punches began finding their way between the challenger’s gloves more frequently, putting Cardenas under sustained pressure.
The Japanese star cleverly alternated headshots with vicious body uppercuts, gradually wearing down a stoic but helpless Cardenas, who was tossed around the ring with no respite. Round six was particularly dominant, with Inoue landing with frightening regularity and appearing on the verge of finding the finishing blow.
Cardenas went down in the seventh round after being hit by four straight right hands to the head but bravely got up and survived to the bell, albeit in bad shape. However, the champion’s relentless combinations in the eighth convinced referee Thomas Taylor to step in and stop the fight.
Some might question the stoppage, but it seemed to this writer that the challenger was completely spent and that the referee spared him a worse beating. In the previous round, Cardenas had already shown signs of collapse several times, buckling from brutal body shots and looking far less responsive than earlier.
Inoue once again confirmed himself as one of the best fighters of this generation and one of the most ruthless punchers of all time. As with Luis Nery, he showed remarkable resilience, coming back from a hard knockdown and quickly regaining control to unleash his terrifying power.
Still, the scare should give Inoue and his team something to think about—especially heading into the next big fights. If that knockdown hadn’t come just seconds before the bell, he could have been in serious trouble. In the future, it may be wise to tone down the early-round showboating, when any opponent can still be dangerous.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Junto Nakatani, rumored to be among Inoue’s next challengers, surely took notes and will prepare to exploit the vulnerabilities he revealed here—though pulling that off will be far from easy…