Naoya Inoue fights Ramon Cardenas in his long-awaited return to the United States this weekend.
The formidable undisputed super-bantamweight champion is back in the fight capital of the world in Las Vegas for the first time in four years after eight consecutive bouts in his native Japan.
Undefeated Inoue - AKA ‘The Monster’ - was the unified bantamweight titlist on his last visit to the USA in 2021, knocking out Michael Dasmarinas early having also stopped Australia’s Jason Moloney in Vegas eight months earlier.
Now he returns as a four-weight world champion, two-time undisputed king and modern pound-for-pound great who has held all the belts in the 122-pound division since December 2023.
Knockout specialist Inoue has continued to dominate all before him in typically explosive fashion since his latest move up a division, stopping Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales to complete another set of belts.
He has successfully defended his undisputed status against Luis Nery, TJ Doheny and latterly Ye Joon Kim, who was demolished in four rounds in Tokyo back in January after mandatory challenger Sam Goodman twice withdrew due to injury.
Mexico’s WBC mandatory Alan Picasso was originally supposed to be the opponent for Inoue’s return to the US, only to pull out injured as ‘Dinamita’ Cardenas got the nod instead amid rumours over the likes of Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Bryan Mercado.
The American is 26-1 and recorded 14 successive wins since his lone professional loss to Danny Flores in 2017, though he has yet to face anyone approaching anywhere near the level of Inoue after outpointing Bryan Acosta over 10 rounds on his last appearance in his hometown of San Antonio in February.
Inoue is already planning a future jump to featherweight in the likely event that he brushes aside Cardenas, with Liverpool’s WBA champion Nick Ball on his radar along with former unified super-bantamweight champion Akhmadaliev - whom Eddie Hearn has claimed he will fight next, likely in September - and of course Japanese rival Junto Nakatani.
Inoue vs Cardenas is part of a busy schedule of boxing on Cinco de Mayo weekend, coming after Ryan Garcia’s return against Rolly Romero in Times Square in New York on Friday night on a card also containing rival Devin Haney, plus Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s first fight in Riyadh on Saturday as he seeks to become undisputed champion for the second time at super-middleweight against IBF title-holder William Scull.
Inoue vs Cardenas fight date and venue
Inoue vs Cardenas takes place on Sunday May 4, 2025 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Inoue vs Cardenas fight time and ring walks
In the UK, the action begins at 1am BST in the early hours of the morning on Early May Bank Holiday Monday. That’s 8pm ET and 5pm PT in the United States on Sunday night, 10am on Monday morning in Japan.
Main event ring walks for Inoue vs Cardenas are expected at approximately 4am BST, 11pm ET, 8pm PT and 12pm JST. As ever, the exact timings are subject to change.
How to watch Inoue vs Cardenas
TV channel: In the UK, the event is being shown live on Sky Sports. Coverage begins at 1am BST on Monday morning.
Live stream: Those with a Sky Sports subscription can also watch live online via the Sky Go app.
Inoue vs Cardenas undercard
Sunday’s long undercard is headlined by undefeated Mexican Rafael Espinoza defending his WBO featherweight world title for the third time against Edward Vazquez.
Naoya Inoue vs Ramon Cardenas
Rafael Espinoza vs Edward Vazquez
Rohan Polanco vs Fabian Maidana
Emiliano Vargas vs Juan Leon
Mikito Nakano vs Pedro Marquez
Art Barrera Jr vs Juan Carlos Guerra Jr
Ra’eese Aleem vs Rudy Garcia
Patrick O'Connor vs Marcus Smith
Inoue vs Cardenas prediction
Once again and as the odds certainly reflect, it would be an almighty upset if Inoue were to walk away anything other than an emphatic winner this weekend.
The Monster is 29-0 with 26 knockouts and aside from a shock early visit to the canvas against Luis Nery a year ago in a fight in which he quickly rebounded to win in the sixth round, has not been subject to a real sustained test since that unforgettable war with the great Nonito Donaire in 2019.
He is 24-0 in world title fights with 22 stoppages, while Cardenas was not even the first-choice opponent for this return to the US.
He may have won 14 fights in a row, but has definitely never faced anyone approaching the caliber of Inoue, who is eyeing the No1 spot on the consensus pound-for-pound list over the likes of fellow two-time undisputed champions Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk.
Inoue will be targeting a signature statement stoppage back Stateside to tee up much bigger fights to come, and it would take a brave man to bet against it.
Inoue to win by early knockout.
Inoue vs Cardenas weigh-in
Weigh-ins for Sunday night’s card take place on Saturday. Check back in then to see how both men have fared on the scales.
Inoue vs Cardenas latest odds
Inoue to win: 1/100
Cardenas to win: 25/1
Draw: 175/1
Inoue to win on points or by decision: 5/1
Inoue to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 1/12
Cardenas to win on points or by decision: 70/1
Cardenas to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 35/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
