Naoya Inoue v Ramon Cardenas
- Weight:
- 122 (Super Bantamweight)
- Notable belts:
- WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine
- Date:
- Venue:
- T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Prediction: Naoya Inoue by Stoppage
Result: Naoya Inoue by Stoppage
For the first time I genuinely was scared in a Naoya Inoue fight 😂 Cardenas came out swinging and never stopped. He gave a great performance and dropped Inoue so heavily that I didn’t think Inoue was going to get up. Of course Inoue is an all time great and showed that with insane recovery powers as well as elite skills to break Cardenas down. His defence looked leaky early on just like against Nery but what makes him so great is that he makes the adjustments and finds a way to win. Other than the knockdown though this fight was a standard Inoue breakdown. I don’t agree with the FOTY talks but it was a really fun fight. Inoue does look like he’s slowing down and I don’t know if it’s making the weight (I doubt it) or just his age but I’m glad I’ve got to witness his legacy.
Scorecard
| Naoya Inoue | Ramon Cardenas | |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10 | 9 |
| R2 | 8 | 10 |
| R3 | 10 | 9 |
| R4 | 10 | 9 |
| R5 | 10 | 9 |
| R6 | 10 | 9 |
| R7 | 10 | 8 |
| Total | 68 | 63 |