Inoue vs Cardenas: Japanese star survives scare to retain undisputed super-bantamweight titles

Japan’s Naoya Inoue climbed off the canvas to retain his status as undisputed super-bantamweight world champion with an eighth-round stoppage of American Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas.

After being knocked down for just the second time in his career, in the second round, Inoue recovered and unleashed a barrage of punches at the start of the eighth before referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to end the fight.

Inoue’s record now stands at 30-0 as he marked his first fight outside Japan since 2021 with his 27th knockout victory.

“Everybody is aware I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

There was shock late in the second round when Inoue was dropped by a left hook from overwhelming underdog Cardenas but he picked himself up, made it to the bell and composed himself.

“I was very surprised but I was able to calmly pull myself together,” Inoue added through a translator.

“In the first round I thought I had pretty good distance but in the second round it kind of got a little loose. From thereafter I made sure I didn’t take that punch again.”

Inoue went on the attack but Cardenas refused to back down down and the pair slugged it out in a bruising fourth round.

Eventually, Inoue’s power proved too much and a brutal shot to the body hurt Cardenas before four right hands to the head earned the champion a knockdown at the end of round seven.

He went in to finish the job at the start of the eighth and sent Cardenas staggering into the ropes with another punishing right before the referee stepped in.

On the undercard, Mexico’s unbeaten Rafael Espinosa improved to 27-0 with a seventh-round stoppage of American Edward Vazquez.

“I know a fight against Naoya Inoue would catapult me into stardom,” said Espinosa after defending his WBO title in the slightly heavier featherweight division.