Naoya Inoue received up from simply the 2nd knockdown of his professional profession to win an all-action thriller in an ESPN essential occasion from Las Vegas, Nevada. Ramon Cardenas confirmed a sturdy chin, a tenacious coronary heart, and distinctive timing to present followers by far the very best present of a stuffed boxing weekend. However, Inoue was simply an excessive amount of for Cardenas to deal with, ending the challenger off early within the eighth spherical to retain his undisputed tremendous bantamweight titles.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KO) navigated Cardenas’s very quick, sharp jab within the 1st, however began operating into bother within the 2nd. Cardenas (26-2, 14 KO) did high quality work inside, bloodying the nostril of Inoue within the 2nd after which touchdown a surprising counter left hand that put Inoue on the canvas.
It was similar to the counter left that Luis Nery floored Inoue with nearly precisely a 12 months in the past. And it wasn’t a fortunate one-shot miracle, as Cadenas stored clipping Inoue with counters to maintain himself viable, and even forward after 4 rounds on unofficial scorecards from ESPN’s Mark Kriegel and Unhealthy Left Hook.
Inoue shook Cardenas a bit in that 4th spherical, smiling at his success and pressuring the challenger. However, one other good counter within the fifth, this one a proper hand, slowed Inoue down and made him suppose a bit bit about his assault.
The fifth was the final actual menace from Cardenas, as Inoue damage him midway by way of the sixth and began actually unloading. Cardenas fought by way of it, however took plenty of punishment within the seventh, rallying briefly however struggling a tough knockdown within the ultimate 30 seconds of the spherical.
Coach Joel Diaz informed Cardenas after the seventh that he had yet another spherical to indicate one thing, nevertheless it was referee Tom Taylor that stepped in to finish it early within the eighth when Inoue put Cardenas on the ropes and unloaded in opposition to zero return fireplace.
It was a unbelievable motion struggle, one the place Cardenas earned himself plenty of new followers, and presumably extra paydays sooner or later. As for Inoue, it’s not a terrific signal that he received caught and knocked down by the identical blind counter left hand once more. However, he stays considered one of two males with a declare for biggest energetic fighter within the sport, and there’s not a lot else he must work on. He could make fixing it a precedence in his subsequent camp earlier than the upcoming September struggle in opposition to Murodjon Akhmadaliev he introduced after his victory.
Rafael Espinoza TKO-7 Edward Vazquez
A superb efficiency from Rafael Espinoza, who labored his energy and measurement to gradual and finally cease a sport however overwhelmed Edward Vazquez within the seventh spherical.
Espinoza (27-0, 23 KO) was simply an excessive amount of throughout each axis, surviving the in-close aggression Vazquez introduced early, then utilizing a violent uppercut and left to the physique to interrupt down Vazquez utterly. Vazquez (17-3, 4 KO) would begin making an argument for himself in nearly each spherical, blocking Espinoza’s jabs to get inside and unleash his assault, solely to get caught with a punishing physique shot or an uppercut that cut up his guard, then must turtle as much as survive.
Vazquez is among the smartest fighters within the sport proper now, and he clearly got here in with a plan to win, not simply endure and go the gap. If something, Espinoza most likely received’t get sufficient credit score for the work he did tonight as a result of Vazquez is such an under-the-radar fighter. However, Vazquez didn’t have the facility to essentially punish Espinoza’s defensive lapses, and he couldn’t cowl up all over the place on the identical time. The ability of Espinoza had each Vazquez’s nook and referee Harvey Dock threatening to cease issues after the fifth spherical. Vazquez hung in there a bit longer, however wound up cornered with out throwing any return fireplace late within the seventh, which led to a very reasonable referee stoppage.
