Las Vegas (AP) – The four big belts of boxing featherweights sat in front of the fighters on Thursday, but Ramon Cardenas did not look at them “because they are not yet mine.”
He hopes to take these belts from Naoya Inoue and, well, good luck with that.
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The Japanese sensation nicknamed “Monster” is a huge favorite in his return to Las Vegas. It is back for the first time since twice the fights at the height of the COVVI-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, first in a bubble without fans and then inside a resort.
Neither one the other looks like T-Mobile Arena where, Sunday evening, Inoue, 32 years old (29-0, 26 Knockouts) will face Cardenas, a 29-year-old man from San Antonio who has 26-1 with 14 kos.
The co-printing event is another title fight. The featherweight champion WBO Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KB) from Mexico goes against Edward Vazquez (17-2, 4 KB) by Fort Worth, Texas.
Inoue is a favorite of -10000 at Betmgm Sportsbook and -900 to end the fight early, but he also knows that he will not have the benefit of a home crowd as he would in Tokyo Dome. Inoue also fights on the weekend of Cinco de Mayo rather than someone like Canelo Alvarez, the favorite of the crowd who often occupies the stage in Las Vegas this weekend but this weekend is competing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Inoue said through an interpreter that he did not know what to expect about the crowd, calling the match “an outside game”.
“The ideal situation is to show American fans my boxing and win with a KO,” said Inoue. “But more than anything, I want everyone to see what they could not see live in Japan.”
He reached the legendary status in his homeland and has not been taken the distance for more than five years, becoming champion with four divisions and undisputed champion in two categories of weight.
Back to the United States is the chance to inoue to present yourself to a new fans base, and have the fight on ESPN rather than the payment at sight will help it reach a wider audience. American fans will have the chance to see what it is. An impressive performance would not put it at the same level of renown in this country as his compatriot Shohei Ohtani, but that would be a beginning.
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It is also a great opportunity for Cardenas, who knows what an upset victory would mean for his career. He was not in this type of atmosphere, and since he watched Floyd Mayweather Jr. by shared decision on Oscar de la Hoya in 2007 in Las Vegas, Cardenas wanted to participate in the capital of the world of combat.
Now he's lucky. And in the main event.
“Fighting for a world title is one thing, but fighting for undisputed is more than what I could never have asked for,” said Cardenas. “It makes me hungry. It makes me want more.”
He is not blind to the challenge that is in front of him and spoke respectfully of Inoue, but that does not mean that Cardenas plans to be the punch of his opponent.
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“I don't come here to recover a check, and it makes me dangerous,” said Cardenas. “If I were here to recover a check, I would not introduce myself, but I'm here and I'm here to win.”
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Boxing AP: https://apnews.com/boxing
