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Japan’s Naoya Inoue climbed off the canvas to retain his status as undisputed super-bantamweight world champion with an eighth-round stoppage of American Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas.<\/b><\/p>\n
After being knocked down for just the second time in his career, in the second round, Inoue recovered and unleashed a barrage of punches at the start of the eighth before referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to end the fight.<\/p>\n
Inoue’s record now stands at 30-0 as he marked his first fight outside Japan since 2021 with his 27th knockout victory.<\/p>\n
“Everybody is aware I like to brawl,” Inoue said.<\/p>\n
There was shock late in the second round when Inoue was dropped by a left hook from overwhelming underdog Cardenas but he picked himself up, made it to the bell and composed himself.<\/p>\n
“I was very surprised but I was able to calmly pull myself together,” Inoue added through a translator.<\/p>\n
“In the first round I thought I had pretty good distance but in the second round it kind of got a little loose. From thereafter I made sure I didn’t take that punch again.”<\/p>\n
Inoue went on the attack but Cardenas refused to back down down and the pair slugged it out in a bruising fourth round.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Inoue’s power proved too much and a brutal shot to the body hurt Cardenas before four right hands to the head earned the champion a knockdown at the end of round seven.<\/p>\n
He went in to finish the job at the start of the eighth and sent Cardenas staggering into the ropes with another punishing right before the referee stepped in.<\/p>\n
On the undercard, Mexico’s unbeaten Rafael Espinosa improved to 27-0 with a seventh-round stoppage of American Edward Vazquez.<\/p>\n
“I know a fight against Naoya Inoue would catapult me into stardom,” said Espinosa after defending his WBO title in the slightly heavier featherweight division.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n