‘The Monster’ returns to the ring tonight (Sunday May 4) and you can watch Naoya Inoue’s showdown vs Ramon Cardenas live in the UK.
The 32-year-old from Kanagawa, Japan is a modern-day boxing great and a mainstay on any mythical P4P ranking lists along with the likes of Oleksandr Usyk and Canelo Alvarez.
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He is a thing of beauty to watch, technically sound, brilliantly fast – a student of the game who also just happens to punch like a mule. And all at just 122lbs (8st 10lbs) in boxing’s super-bantamweight division.
Tonight he returns to the US to fight again on the biggest stage of all under the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Here are all the details.
When is Inoue vs Cardenas?
Ring walks for the main event are expected to take place around 11pm Eastern Time tonight (Sunday May 4) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. That is 8pm local Pacific Time on the West Coast.
If you’re watching in the UK, set your alarms for around 4am on Monday May 5, while it is 5am CET.
Ideally, set your alarm a couple of hours earlier to catch the best fights on the undercard as well (more details on that to come).
Live stream and TV channel
Inoue vs Cardenas will air on ESPN and ESPN+ in the US, as well as Disney+.
UK have a nice bonus thanks to the relationship between Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Sky Sports. The bout will air on Sky in the UK – no extra charge to existing subscribers.
Inoue vs Cardenas weights
The official weigh-in took place in Vegas on Saturday and both men were under the 122lbs limit. Inoue scaled 121.9lbs with Cardenas very slightly lighter at 121.8lbs.
What do the odds say?
To say the oddsmakers give Cardenas little chance would be a huge understatement. He is a 33/1 outsider, with Inoue a prohibitive 1/40 favourite.
The Draw is an unlikely 75/1.
Naoya Inoue record
Inoue, who is now 32 years old, has a perfect professional record of 29-0 with 26 of those wins coming by way of knockout. Testament to the brutal power and accuracy of Inoue, who is brilliantly adept at breaking down his opponents in the most painful of ways. That’s why they call him ‘The Monster’.
Ramon Cardenas record
The 29-year-old Cardenas, who hails from San Antonio, Texas, has a 26-1 pro resume with 14 wins inside distance. They call him Dinamita, but he’ll need heavy duty explosives against Inoue.
What are they fighting for?
All of Inoue’s world titles will be on the line in this one – he is the undisputed super-bantamweight king and holds the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring magazine belts.
Inoue vs Cardenas undercard
There are some cracking matchups on this Top Rank undercard, including:
- Welterweight: Rohan Polanco (15-0, 10 KOs) vs. Fabian Maidana (24-3, 18 KOs)
- Junior welterweight: Emiliano Fernando Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) vs. Juan Leon (11-2-1, 2 KOs).
- Featherweight: Mikito Nakano (12-0, 11 KOs) vs. Pedro Marquez Medina (16-1, 10 KOs).
- Junior middleweight: Art Barrera Jr. (8-0, 6 KOs) vs. Juan Carlos Guerra Jr. (6-1-1, 2 KOs).
- Featherweight: Ra’eese Aleem (21-1, 12 KOs) vs. Rudy Garcia (13-1-1, 2 KOs).
