Naoya Inoue remained undefeated after retaining the undisputed super-bantamweight titles with an eighth-round technical knockout of Ramon Cardenas in front of a packed house inside T-Mobile Arena.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), who was knocked down in the second round, played the aggressor for much of the fight by using precision and power to carve his way through Cardenas (26-2), frequently sending the announced 8,474 gathering into a frenzy.
“By watching tonight's fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said. “I was very surprised [at the knockdown], but I took things calmly and put myself together. [...] From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
The Japanese icon, affectionately known as the “Monster”, landed 57 of 103 power punches (55%) in the sixth and seventh rounds alone, per CompuBox.
Inoue, fighting in Las Vegas for the first time in four years, was ahead by identical scores of 68-63 on all three judges' scorecards at the time of stoppage.
"The fans here were supportive and great," said Inoue, 32. "And I hope I was able to entertain them."
Inoue opened the fight with confidence by landing several shots. But in charging forward in the second round, Inoue walked directly into Cardenas’s right-handed counter, dropping the undefeated champion.
It wouldn’t take long for Inoue to shake off the miscue, as he continued to dominate by picking his spots, going from the body to the head, wearing down his challenger. By the end of the fourth round, Inoue had landed 48 of the 90 punches thrown, including 33 power shots.
Cardenas, though, appeared to absorb everything, while countering when he could.
Inoue caught Cardenas near the halfway point of the sixth round and drove him into the corner while landing several combos. With Cardenas throwing counters, Inoue used the final 18 seconds to pulverise the 29-year-old challenger.
Inoue scored his first knockdown of the fight in the seventh round, catching Cardenas in the corner and dropping him after landing four consecutive rights. Knowing he had his opponent defeated, Inoue was relentless in the eighth round, eventually prompting referee Thomas Taylor to step in.
“He’s pound-for-pound one of the greatest fighters on the planet,” Cardenas said.
Inoue is scheduled to fight a mandatory bout against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September, in what could be his toughest challenge to date.
Inoue’s win followed Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s victory over William Scull on Saturday, with which the Mexican regained undisputed status at super-middleweight. However, Alvarez struggled to capture the imagination against an admittedly evasive opponent.
And on Friday, a stacked card in New York City’s Times Square produced mixed results for some of boxing’s biggest American stars. Ryan Garcia was dropped and outpointed by Rolly Romero, after Devin Haney was uninspiring in victory against an even poorer Jose Ramirez, while Teofimo Lopez put on a clinic against Arnold Barboza Jr.
AP
