Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas prove that boxing does not need gadgets, just well matched fights

It was as if the fight of the Super Bantamweight Fight title on Sunday evening resets the boxing dial.

After a weekend of gadgets – led by a VIP card in Assédie in Times Square, New York and a Fight Breakfast Fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia – Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas organized an all-action fight in Las Vegas, culminating “The Monster” retaining its undisputed titles on the edge of 122 pounds.

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Thanks to an eighth round TKO, Inoue has now stopped her last 11 opponents – all in world championship competitions. He heard the last bell in 2019 after beating Nonito Donaire in the Super Series boxing final.

But it was not without drama to Inoue. The champion touched the canvas in the second round following a beautifully timed left counter of Cardenas, but all that seemed to be doing was to prick “the monster”, which retaliated with revenge in the following rounds.

Inoue became stronger and more destructive when the tours passed, almost making his man from there out in the sixth round. A cardenas gallant was saved by the bell.

Inoue marked his first reversal of the fight in the seventh round, trapping Cardenas in the area and dropping it after having won four consecutive straight hands. The end came to the next round while referee Thomas Taylor intervened after an unanswered damage dam.

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“Looking at the fight tonight, everyone is well aware that I like to fight,” said Ionue after the fight. “I was very surprised (at Knockdown), but I took things calmly and got together. From that moment, I made sure not to take over this punch. ”

“Fans here were united and great,” he added. “And I hope I could entertain them.”

Without wanting to indulge in too many hyperbola, Inoue and Cardenas saved a boxing weekend which would have otherwise been recalled for gadgets and novelty fights.

Each punch of one or the other man inside the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday evening met an “oooh” or a deafening “aaah”, and the two men have fed on this virile atmosphere, putting what could be considered as a combat competitor of the year.

It is a fairly simple equation, but a sport apparently tries to move away. Get two well-matched fighters in a ring together and make sure that fans can attend, and you will probably hit gold.

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But the more the playing cards than Turki Alashikh and the Saudi public investment fund holds in the sport infrastructure, the more these gadgets will become currents. After all, when you have an endless money pit at your disposal, why would you need fans present when you effectively publish television advertisement to promote your country?

The forces of Aalshikh have the foot so firmly in the door that these voices which hold them to count will become less and quieter. Fans have been charmed by a certain number of superfiles in the last 18 months, but when this point of initial sugar disappears, the basis of what makes boxing such an incredible sport must remain.

After the non-inspiration Ryan Garcia against Rolando “Rolly” Romero and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez against William Scull Fights, Inoue against Cardenas gave sport a highly necessary shot in her arm to close the weekend.

Two guys put all this on the line for glory, rather than unsustainable swollen payroll and approval of a man who insists on being called “his excellence”.