Naoya Inoue acquired up from simply the 2nd knockdown of his professional profession to win an all-action thriller in an ESPN principal occasion from Las Vegas, Nevada. Ramon Cardenas confirmed a sturdy chin, a tenacious coronary heart, and distinctive timing to offer followers by far the perfect 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 working into hassle 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 shocking counter left hand that put Inoue on the canvas.
It was similar to the counter left that Luis Nery floored Inoue with virtually precisely a yr 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 assume a bit bit about his assault.
The fifth was the final actual risk from Cardenas, as Inoue harm him midway by means of the sixth and began actually unloading. Cardenas fought by means of it, however took a number of punishment within the seventh, rallying briefly however struggling a tough knockdown within the closing 30 seconds of the spherical.
Coach Joel Diaz informed Cardenas after the seventh that he had yet one more spherical to indicate one thing, but it surely 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 hearth.
It was a implausible motion combat, one the place Cardenas earned himself a number of new followers, and presumably extra paydays sooner or later. As for Inoue, it’s not an important signal that he acquired caught and knocked down by the identical blind counter left hand once more. However, he stays one in all two males with a declare for best 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 combat in opposition to Murodjon Akhmadaliev he introduced after his victory.
Rafael Espinoza TKO-7 Edward Vazquez
An excellent efficiency from Rafael Espinoza, who labored his energy and dimension to gradual and finally cease a recreation 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 virtually 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 should turtle as much as survive.
Vazquez is among the smartest fighters within the recreation proper now, and he clearly got here in with a plan to win, not simply endure and go the space. If something, Espinoza in all probability gained’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 ability to essentially punish Espinoza’s defensive lapses, and he couldn’t cowl up all over the place on the identical time. The facility 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 hearth late within the seventh, which led to a very reasonable referee stoppage.
