Ramon Cardenas expresses confidence in victory over Naoya Inoue in their world title fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend. The San Antonio native looks to dethrone the undisputed super bantamweight champion from Japan when they clash in the main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 4.
Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) makes his first attempt to become champion. The once-beaten contender has secured 14 straight victories since dropping a majority decision to Danny Flores eight years ago. In his previous outing in February, in front of his hometown crowd, the 29-year-old defeated Bryan Acosta by unanimous decision.
Undefeated Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) makes his first ring appearance in the U.S. in four years, since stopping Michael Dasmarinas in the third round, also in Las Vegas, in mid-2021. The four-division world champion puts his 122-pound title on the line and makes the fourth defense of his crown. The 31-year-old is coming off a win by knockout in the fourth round against late replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim in January.
“I got a call a week after my last fight, and my manager [Michael Miller] asked me, ‘Hey, do you want to fight Inoue?’ Opportunities like this don’t come around often, so I had to jump at it,” Ramon Cardenas said following a recent training session at the Diaz Brothers Training Camp in Indio, CA.
“I’ve been mentally preparing to fight Inoue for a long time. I knew I’d eventually get a big fight if I kept winning. And here we are, a shot at the undisputed champion of the world.”
“This is Inoue’s first fight in America in four years, so I know he’s motivated to show out. I’m prepared for the very best version of Naoya Inoue.”
“I know this is the type of fight and moment that can eat people up, but the ring doesn’t change. You can put it in the middle of the ocean. You can put it in the middle of the desert. The ring is the ring. It has four corners. I see it like that and understand the magnitude of this fight. I asked for this moment, and now I have to take advantage of it.”
“I started doing Lyft, DoorDash, and Uber to make ends meet. To fight for a world title is one thing, but to fight for the undisputed championship is the ultimate prize. For me to be in this position shows my work ethic and self-belief because I knew I was going to get here.”
In the co-feature, Mexico’s Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) makes the third defense of his WBO featherweight title against Edward Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs) of Fort Worth, TX. Among the undercard bouts, Rohan Polanco (15-0, 10 KOs) of the Dominican Republic meets Fabian Maidana (24-3, 18 KOs) of Argentina at welterweight.