Naoya Inoue vs. Ramon Cardenas & Rafael Espinoza Zepeda vs. Edward Vazquez - Round by Round.

It wasn't just Inoue that saved the weekend. Big big hand claps to Cardenas too.

 

So that KD. I thought Inoue was quite hurt. If there had been 30 seconds on the clock could Cardenas have finished him?

 

Ball is definitely going to be a tough fight for him if it happens.

 

Foty contender. Great fight. Inoue looked good and it was still a tough fight. Makes you question Inoue at 126 a bit. He has power and boxing but the power is starting to get to him

 

He is a casual. I appreciate his money and it's influence but Turki is all about name recognition.

 

I am glad I woke up to watch that fight. Inoue always delivers.

Got to give Cardenas credit, he really showed up and gave Inoue the toughest fight probably since Donaire 1. He had a game plan and saw what Nery did and duplicated it. But Inoue quickly adapted and knew the counter was coming and looked to counter his counter.

Cardenas showed real heart but not just heart, even when he was being taking apart he was firing back with dangerous counters. He was mentally still in the fight and looking to win, not just survive. Based on this, he's the number 2 at 122. Look forward to seeing him fight again, let get him in with the other top guys at 122.

Inoue does seem a bit vulnerable early. He can get over confident and leave himself open, we saw him eat huge shots from Nery and Cardenas. That might be fine at 122 but at 126 or above that might cost him.

 

yes, his legs were not under him. he was very vulnerable.

 

I cant see Ball getting the success Cardenas did in bunches. For me he is way too 1-d. Inoue stops him within 6 IMO.

 

Being a warrior is what makes Inoue great he is not some safety first cautious fighter who is scared of getting hit he brings the mother ****ing ruckus.

 

No. His eyes were clear, he was more embarrassed than hurt.

 

Great fight, saved what was a horribly disappointing weekend of boxing. Cardenas deserves a ton of credit, he gave Inoue his toughest fight since Donaire 1.

Credit to Inoue aswell for coming back from the KD and putting on a great show. But I feel pretty confident in saying he's now on the decline. I've suspected it for a bit now but I think this confirms it. He's only 32 but guys at the lower weights do tend to start declining earlier.

 

I thought it was more in the middle. He was rocked but recovered very quickly.

 

This has to be the greatest fight in the history of boxing right? Move up George Foreman vs Ron Lyle, Ken Norton vs Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe vs Holyfield. This fight puts that to shame. Inoue a "ATG" fights Ramon Cardenas a guy who was literally driving or Uber in 2023 gets knocked down by a guy who isn't known for being a big puncher and a guy that most boxing fans never heard of before but wow right? Inoue saved boxing.

If Boots or Tank Davis did the same thing about a lower level opponent like this you same people be bashing the heck out of them.