Inoue survives knockdown to win by TKO

Japanese Naoya “Monster” Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super bantamweight titles by defeating a feisty Ramón Cárdenas via a TKO, forty-five seconds into round eight, on a card organized by Top Rank at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Surprisingly, Cárdenas caught Inoue with a powerful left hook, which sent him to the canvas in the second round. Inoue got up and was ready to continue, but the bell then rang to end a lively round.

The crowd was shocked to see Inoue on the canvas, but he recovered well due to his superb conditioning and regained control of the fight until he defeated Cárdenas, who visited the canvas in the seventh but showed great courage, until under heavy, sustained and unremitting, fire he could no longer continue 45 seconds into the eighth round, being battered against the ropes. Referee Thomas Taylor stepped in to save him.

With this victory, Inoue improved his record to 30-0, with 27 knockouts; while Cárdenas fell to 26-2, with 14 knockouts.

Inoue takes home the “Go Grey in May” belt, which commemorates Brain Cancer awareness and the case of Jesselyn Silva, a young fighter who unfortunately died of brain cancer.

Photos by TopRank