Naoya Inoue remains the undisputed world super bantamweight champion after a T.K.O. victory over Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas.
Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 knockouts) has impressively underlined his status as the undisputed world super bantamweight champion. In front of 8,474 enthusiastic spectators in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (USA) , the Japanese fighter stopped challenger Ramon Cardenas (26-2, 14 knockouts) in the eighth round. And he did so after being knocked down himself.
Early knockdown, later knockout
Cardenas surprised the heavy favorite in the second round with a left hook and sent him to the floor. Only the second knockdown of Inoue’s career. But the Japanese superstar reacted with a cool head, found his rhythm and took command from the fourth round onwards.
With quick combinations and precise punches, the “monster” put Cardenas under increasing pressure. After a knockdown in round seven, the duel seemed to be decided prematurely. But “Dinamita” refused to give up.
Eleven knockout victories in a row
After just a few seconds of the eighth, however, it was clear that nothing was going to happen. When Cardenas had nothing left to counter further punches, referee Thomas Taylor stopped the fight. Inoue remains unbeaten as WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and WBO world champion and extends his knockout streak to eleven wins in a row.
Text: Marcus Holzer