Las Vegas – “The Monster” saved what was on Sunday evening disappointing the boxing weekend. But he had to do it to do it.
Nayya Inoue (30-0, 27 KO) had to break away from the canvas in the second round and set up a criminal offensive exhibition to stop the extremely challenging Ramon Cardenas (26-2) in defense of their unquestionable Super Bantam championships in T-Mobile Arena.
After some of the biggest names of boxing (Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney) did not impress on Friday and Saturday, the return of Nayy Inoue to the United States for the first time since 2021. He was interrupted by an thrilling clash, in which the Japanese super -star avoided a catastrophic result in an unforgettable performance, which ended a massive weekends in the unforgettable performance, which ended a massive weekend boxing.
On Sunday evening, Inoue turned out to be a strength in boxing since his professional debut in 2012. He went through four classes of weight, becoming one of three fighters who were unquestioned in two divisions in “Era Four Belt”. Known for his exceptional impact strength, Inoue was a destructive force, and 90% of his winnings are approaching knockout. But Cardenas did not decrease under the shadow of “Monster”. Instead, he came to fight and gave Inoue everything he could do.
When bulky Inoue began to develop the engine in the second round, he met it with the left hook of Cardenas, which sank with a “monster” on canvas. He was lucky that it was knocking down at the end of the round when he went to the corner on the catchy legs. But Inoue shook the cobwebs and methodically went to work, using a inflexible stab to set an assault on the body, which pulled a pair out of Cardenas’s blows.
“Watching today’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like a fight,” said Inoue. “I was very surprised [at the knockdown]But I took things calmly and gathered … In the first round I felt that I had a long distance. It was released in the second round. From then on, I made sure I didn’t do it again. “
But Cardenas did not lose and did not fight with a huge heart, pulling out of the clutches of failure, winging powerful blows, whenever it seemed that the end could be close. The balls of both fighters landed with an audible impact, which attracted a height of 8,474 fans in the arena. Although it was assumed that this was an ordinary attachment for the planned defense of the Inoue title in September against Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev in Tokyo Dome, the fight against Cardenas can be considered a main course.
After the second round, Inoue was notified and took up a more measured approach in the middle rounds, setting his combinations for stab and avoiding a left hook. Inoue turned out to be too powerful for Cardenas and prepared the ground under an thrilling ending, sending his opponent a trio of right hands at the end of the seventh round and throwing himself at the wounded enemy at the beginning of 8. Game Cardenas tried to stay on his feet, but Inoue released a violent combination of seven punch, which forced the detention in the sign: 45.
Although Cardenas saw that his series of victory of the 14-winner stopped, he would leave Las Vegas with newly discovered fame thanks to the kindness of his bold performance against ESPN warrior No. 2 pounds for pounds.
“The fight was a challenging fight,” he said. “I said it all, I said it all. Every interview. He is a pound for a pound, one of the biggest fighters in the world and I just wanted to give fans to fight fans.”
Inoue moves forward along with the September fight against Akhmadaliev and was irritated by a potential movement to a featherweight, where he tried to become the undisputed champion in an unprecedented third grade.
In the co-or-main event, Rafael Espinosis (27-0, 23 KO) presented a dizzying offensive performance to preserve his WBO PIÓRO-Pióra title with the seventh round of Edward Vazquez (17-3).
Espinosis provided a brutal attack from the opening bell, throwing more blows in the first three rounds than Canelo, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia threw their 12-round fights at the weekend. Despite the game, Vazquez was exceeded and absorbed a huge punishment before the fight was mercifully detained in point 1:47 after another brutal salvo of espinosis.
Dmitry Bivol has been linked to a number of opponents since defeating Michael Eifert, but it seems as though there is only one man whom the Russian intends to face – avoiding a fight with a former world champion in the process.
Bivol claimed the undisputed light-heavyweight crown when he avenged his solitary career defeat to Artur Beterbiev with a majority-decision triumph in February 2025, until a 15-month period of inactivity saw him forego his WBC world title.
Upon his return, in May, Bivol shook off the ring rust by fulfilling his IBF mandatory and defending his three remaining world titles against Eifert in Russia, before rumours that the 35-year-old would swerve a trilogy against Beterbiev emerged.
However, in an interview with FightHypepromoter Eddie Hearn denied those suggestions and revealed that it is the Beterbiev fight which Bivol wants most.
“There’s a lot of people saying, ‘Bivol doesn’t want to fight Beterbiev.’ That’s not true at all.”
“Dmitry wants the trilogy. That’s the fight he wants. We’ll start those conversations and see what happens.”
It had been understood that Bivol would instead take on former WBA super-middleweight world champion and current WBO 175lb mandatory challenger Callum Smith – once the Russian had recovered from an elbow surgery which is set to take place later this month.
Yet, Hearn went on to explain that he now expects Smith to rematch Joshua Buatsi in a clash for the vacant WBO light-heavyweight world title, after Bivol has relinquished the belt.
“I think Callum Smith will probably end up boxing Joshua Buatsi for the vacant world title if that’s the route it goes.
“We’ll see how everything plays out, but Dmitry wants the Beterbiev fight.”
As a result, it seems as though Bivol-Beterbiev III could be back on the cards for later this year, with the WBA and IBF light-heavyweight marbles at stake.
Meanwhile, Smith-Buatsi II could headline a mooted ‘Matchroom vs. Queensberry 2’ bill in either October or November, nearly two years on from their first battle which was won by Smith after a Fight of the Year contender.
Oleksandr Usyk is set to fight on one more occasion before hanging up the gloves, promising to have a ‘last dance’ as he calls time on an astounding career. Now, the Ukrainian has revealed that there are only two current candidates under consideration to be his final opponent.
Usyk claimed the undisputed crown at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, with a historic win over Tyson Fury seeing the southpaw technician become the first to simultaneously hold all of the recognised heavyweight world titles in the four-belt era.
An underwhelming performance against Rico Verhoeven last time out though appears to have convinced the 39-year-old that his powers are fading and that it is time to walk away from the sport.
Speaking with Daily Mail BoxingUsyk announced that his ‘last dance’ will take place against a ‘big name’ in the United States.
“‘Last Dance’ is [going to be in the] U.S.A. maybe in New York, [in a] stadium. It’s [going to be against] a big name.”
The veteran was then asked to define whom he believes to be ‘big names’ amongst his heavyweight rivals, with Fury and Deontay Wilder being the only two he’s interested in fighting next.
“[Big names are] ‘Greedy Belly’ [Tyson Fury] and Deontay Wilder. We work about this.”
Recent reports suggest that Usyk and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ could collide in a clash for the Zuffa Boxing heavyweight world title. Usyk did not confirm or deny this, admitting that his mind is currently focused on boxing training rather than boxing.
“I cannot say about this [whether I will fight under the Zuffa banner] because now my team work about my next fight. It’s Zuffa, [then it’s] not Zuffa.
“Now, I [do] not think about boxing. I think about training for boxing; cardio? Of course. Cross-fight? Of course. Swimming pool? No. Sauna? Yes. Rest, time with my family, with my child.”
Usyk also went on to state that his career finale will not take place until December at the earliest, with Fury expected to take on Anthony Joshua the month prior – thus making Wilder the likely candidate.
Terence Crawford retired in December last year, hanging up the gloves as an undefeated five-weight world champion.
The switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska, bowed out from boxing after a stellar win over Mexican icon Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, relinquishing the undisputed super-middleweight world title.
At 38 years old, perhaps the biggest fight available for Crawford was a Canelo rematch, though he said he was never approached about the bout. The American has made it clear that fights with rising stars like Jaron Ennis would do nothing for his legacy, hence his retirement.
There was, however, one route ‘Bud’ was exploring before making the final decision. Speaking on The Breakfast ClubCrawford reflecting on almost booking a fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly before the Kazakh champion failed a doping test.
“Every fight that I fought since 2014 has been for something. Either I’m defending my title, or I’m going to conquer another division for a title … [I said] I’m gonna beat Canelo and I’m gonna see what they do down here [at 154]. Then it came out that Janibek was on performance enhancers. So, that fight got cancelled. I think they stripped him for a title. I’m into making history … but it didn’t [play out like that].”
Alimkhanuly tested positive for a banned substance in December last year before his middleweight unification fight against Erislandy Lara. He has since been stripped of the IBF belt, though he is controversially still the WBO champion despite a year’s ban from the sanctioning body.
With the plans not playing out in Crawford’s favour, middleweight will remain the one skipped division from 135 to 168lbs.
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