Naoya Inoue will make his next defense of his undisputed super bantamweight championship against little known #2 WBA Ramon Cardenas on May 4th in Las Vegas, then battle Murodjon Akhmadaliev on Sept 14th in Tokyo.
Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) is the opponent for Inoue’s defense in the U.S. at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This fight won’t generate much interest in the U.S. because Cardenas isn’t a household name due to the lower-level opposition he’s faced throughout his career.
Fans don’t know who Cardenas is, and they feel insulted that Inoue is using him for his fight in America rather than a talent like Rafael Espinoza, Gervonta Davis, and Shakur Stevenson.
This fight is like Inoue feasting on a plate of carp, a bottom feeder fish. Inoue is saving the good stuff for his fans at home in Japan. Inoue is fighting WBA interim super bantamweight Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Tokyo, Japan on September 14th. I wonder what Inoue’s co-promoters at Top Rank think about this?
The Ring reports Inoue’s two-fight plans for 2025, with the Cardenas and Akhmadaliev matches. Cardenas is being used as a stay-busy fight for Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs)O0 after his original choice, Alan Picasso, chose not to take the fight.
Inoue has a habit of delaying the fights that fans want to see him in, and he faces too many low-quality guys. It’s helped Naoya build his 29-0 record, but it’s hurt his popularity outside of Japan.
Fans see that Inoue has inflated record, and that he rarely, if ever, takes on the dangerous guys that people want to see him fight. Inoue is unbeaten, but his best career win came against a washed up 36-year-old Nontito Donaire.
The rest of Inoue’s victories on his resume have come against lesser opposition. That’s why fans want to see him take the Akhmadaliev fight NOW, then Junito Nakatani before moving up to 126 to face the real threats to his career. Inoue is big enough to fight at featherweight now, and he could easily be campaigning at 130 as well.
