Inoue Survives Scare To Stop Cardenas

Inoue made the adjustments to find the answer. He targeted the midsection and head with a six-punch combination in round four. Cardenas missed with more left hooks as he was looking for that one-punch KO. Cardenas did land a big right hand in the sixth, as Inoue had to be wary. 

Heading into the second half of the fight, Inoue’s class showed. He landed four shots in a row to send Cardenas to the canvas in the seventh. The challenger made it out of the round, but the ending was inevitable. Inoue landed several unanswered punches in the eighth, as the referee waived the fight off. Inoue will now box his WBA mandatory Murodjon Akhmadaliev on September 14. 

Reaction

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl. I was very surprised [at the knockdown], but I took things calmly and put myself together… In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again,” Inoue

“The fight was a tough fight. I said it all camp, I said it all. Every interview. He’s pound for pound, one of the greatest fighters on the planet and I just wanted to give the fans a fan fight,” Cardenas

Full Card

Naoya Inoue beat Ramon Cardenas via an eighth-round TKO

Rafael Espinoza beat Edward Vazquez via a seventh-round TKO

Rohan Polanco beat Fabian Maidana via a unanimous decision: 100-89, 100-89, 100-89

Emiliano Fernando Vargas beat Juan Leon via a second-round TKO

Mikito Nakano beat Pedro Marquez via a fourth-round TKO

Art Barrera Jr. beat Juan Carlos Guerra Jr. via a sixth-round TKO

Raeese Aleem beat Rudy Garcia via a unanimous decision: 98-92, 97-93, 99-91