Notebook: Inoue back in the U.S. to defend undisputed 122 title
Reaction to disappointing Garcia-Romero Times Square PPV; WBO strips Fundora of 154 title; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Japanese pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue has not boxed in the United States since back-to-back bouts in an eight-month span in 2020 and 2021, so he is happy to be back as he continues an ambitious four-fight plan for 2025.
In January, “The Monster” drilled Ye Joon Kim, a late replacement for the injured mandatory challenger Sam Goodman, in the fourth round to retain the undisputed junior featherweight title in Tokyo.
Now he is back in the U.S. to defend the 122-pound crown for the fifth time overall and the undisputed title for the fourth time when he faces Ramon Cardenas in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Sunday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“The last two times I was here, it was during the pandemic, and I had to train accordingly,” Inoue said through an interpreter. “But this time I’m fighting at T-Mobile, and that’s going to be the biggest difference.
“I’m very motivated to fight in front of an American crowd in a big arena like this, but because it’s during Cinco de Mayo weekend, it feels like I’m playing an away game. So I don’t know what to expect. The ideal situation is to show the American fans my boxing and win with a knockout. But more than anything, I want people to see something they haven’t been able to see yet in the U.S.”
The fight with be Inoue’s fourth bout overall in the U.S., having fought in Carson, California, on an HBO-televised undercard and knocked out Antonio Nieves in the sixth round to retain the WBO junior bantamweight title in 2017.
Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs), 32, a four-division champion and two-division undisputed champion, who is 24-0 with 22 KOs in world title fights, has become a star since.
“It’s been four years since I’ve been here, so I’m very excited,” Inoue said. “(Cardenas) is a very well-rounded fighter. With that being said, he has a very good left. I don’t have time to be cautious.”
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Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs), 29, a Mexican-American from San Antonio, like every Inoue opponent, is a heavy underdog. He is also stepping up to face his first notable opponent. He has won 14 fights in a row since a 10-round majority decision loss to Danny Flores in 2017.
“I got a call a week after my last fight (in February), and my manager (Michael Miller) asked me, ‘Hey, do you want to fight Inoue?’ Opportunities like this don’t come around often, so I had to jump at it,” Cardenas said. “I’ve been mentally preparing to fight Inoue for a long time. I knew I’d eventually get a big fight if I kept winning. And here we are — a shot at the undisputed champion of the world.
“This is Inoue’s first fight in America in four years, so I know he’s motivated to show out. I’m prepared for the very best version of Naoya Inoue.”
Cardenas understands this fight is the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Cardenas said. “I have no pressure on me, so I’m going to go out there and give the fans a great show. I’m not here for the money. I’m here for the legacy. If I become a world champion, nobody can take that away from me.”
An Inoue win will propel him into a Sept. 14 fight in Japan against WBA interim titlist and mandatory challenger Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Uzbekistan and a former unified titleholder. That deal was signed this week, according to Top Rank.
A win in that fight would send Inoue to fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December. Last fall, Inoue signed a sponsorship deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season.
But those planned fights won’t happen unless he takes care of Cardenas.
“He’s an all-around good fighter,” Inoue said. “But for me, it’s easy. No matter how he comes out, I think I have the advantage.”
Times Square PPV reaction
TJ and I went live on the Big Fight Weekend YouTube channel on Friday night right after the “Fatal Fury” pay-per-view ended and we went over the disappointing card of Ryan Garcia’s upset loss to Rolando Romero in a terrible fight; Devin Haney’s decision win over Jose Ramirez in an awful fight; and junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez’s decision win over the sleep-walking Arnold Barboza Jr. We also took viewer comments and questions. Check out the video here and also subscribe to the YouTube channel.
WBO strips Fundora
As expected, the WBO stripped Sebastian Fundora of its junior middleweight world title on Thursday for failing to comply with its order of a mandatory defense against Xander Zayas. The WBO also canceled the scheduled purse bid for Fundora-Zayas.
“Mr. Sebastian Fundora has knowingly failed to comply with a valid, binding, and enforceable obligation as mandated by this committee, which was imposed as a condition for the retention of his title and reaffirmed in multiple resolutions,” the WBO said in relieving him of the title. “Mr. Fundora, through his representatives, engaged in extended negotiations regarding the mandatory defense, publicly acknowledged the validity of said obligation, and then repudiated it by announcing a separate contest in contravention of this committee’s rulings. … Mr. Sebastian Fundora is hereby STRIPPED of his WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion status, effective immediately.”
Fundora, who still holds the WBC title, had been in talks to fight Zayas this summer, but in a surprise change, he will instead fight former titlist Tim Tszyu (25-2, 18 KOs), 30, of Australia, this summer in a rematch of their bloodbath from March 2024.
That fight was arranged on short notice when Keith Thurman, Tszyu’s original opponent tore his biceps 12 days before he fight. Fundora moved into the main event from the undercard and won a split decision in a rousing fight to take the WBO title from Tszyu and claim the vacant WBC title.
According to the promoters for Fundora and Tszyu, who also both work with PBC, Tszyu invoked his contractual right to a rematch he was permitted to have after Fundora had an interim fight. Fundora (22-1-1, 14 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Coachella, California, returned from a one-year layoff and knocked out Chordale Booker in the fourth round on March 22.
Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs), 22, a Puerto Rican fighting out of Sunrise, Florida, will be ordered to begin negotiations with Jorge Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs), 28, of Mexico, to fill the vacancy. Garcia Perez scored a major upset decision win over Charles Conwell on April 19 to put himself in position in the WBO rankings.
Quick hits
Weights from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Queensberry Promotions/Riyadh Season card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, 5:45 p.m. ET): Canelo Alvarez 167.1 pounds, William Scull 166.1 (WBC/WBO/WBA/IBF super middleweight unification for undisputed title); Badou Jack 200, Noel Mikaelian 198.1 (for Jack’s WBC cruiserweight title); Bruno Surace 167.7, Jaime Munguia 167.7 (rematch); Efe Ajagba 240, Martin Bakole 299; Richard Riakporhe 235, Kevin Espindola 297; Brayan Leon 169.1, Aaron Guerrero 166.1; Marco Verde 158.7, Michel Galvan Polina 159.8; Mohammed Alakel 134.1, Alexander Morales 133.6.
Weight from Las Vegas for the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Sunday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET): Naoya Inoue 121.8 pounds, Ramon Cardenas 121.9 (for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight title); Rafael Espinoza 125.4, Edward Vazquez 125.6 (for Espinoza’s WBO featherweight title); Rohan Polanco 146.2, Fabian Maidana 146; Emiliano Vargas 138.7, Juan Leon 139.9; Mikito Nakano 125.9, Pedro Marquez 126; Art Barrera Jr. 152.7, Juan Carlos Guerra 153.7; Ra’eese Aleem 125.6, Rudy Garcia 125.3; Patrick O’Connor 196.1, Marcus Smith 188.
Queensberry Promotions made it official that heavyweight Fabio Wardley (18-0, 17 KOs), 30, will face replacement opponent Justis Huni for the vacant WBA interim title on June 7 (DAZN) at Portman Stadium in Wardley’s hometown of Ipswich, England, confirming a Fight Freaks Unite report. Wardley was set to face Jarrell Miller, but he withdrew on Wednesday due to what was announced as a shoulder injury. Filip Hrgovic (18-1, 14 KOs), 32, of Croatia, accepted an offer for the fight but so did Huni (12-0, 7 KOs), 26, of Australia, who came cheaper and he got the bout.
Kevin Lerena (31-3, 15 KOs), 32, a South African southpaw, knocked out Serhiy Radchenko (11-8, 5 KOs), 38, of Ukraine, in the third round to retain the WBC bridgerweight title on Thursday at BetSun Arena in Pretoria, South Africa. Lerena, in his first fight in 14 months since a decision loss to Justis Huni at heavyweight, dropped Radchenko in the second round with a left hand and when he knocked him down again with a combination in the third round, Radchenko’s corner threw in the towel.
Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (11-2, 5 KOs), 24, of Las Vegas, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, will face a Ebenezer Sowah (7-0-1, 7 KOs), 25, of Ghana, in a six-rounder on May 10 (ESPN+) at the Centre de Conference de Sipopo in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Ali Walsh aims to rebound from a six-round split decision loss in February. The fight is on the undercard of the WBC final welterweight title eliminator between Souleymane Cissokho (17-0, 9 KOs), 33, a Senegal native fighting out of France, and former title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas (24-2-1, 19 KOs), 36, a two-time Olympian from Lithuania.
Show and tell
The legendary Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the all-time pound-for-pound king. During a 25-year professional career from 1940 to 1965, Robinson won the welterweight title and was a five-time middleweight champion. At one point he was 128-1-2 with 84 KOs and had gone on a 91-fight winning streak between 1943 and 1951 following a decision loss to rival Jake LaMotta. Robinson beat the greats of his time: LaMotta (in five of their six fights), Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Rocky Graziano, Randy Turpin, Bobo Olson, Sammy Angott and Fritzie Zivic, to name several, and finished his career 174-19-6 with 109 knockouts. Robinson was born on May 3, 1921 — 104 years ago Saturday. I have several Robinson cards in my collection so here is just one of them, his iconic 1951 Topps Ringside card.
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Photos: Inoue-Cardenas: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Fundora-Booker: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Alvarez-Scull: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry
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It's shameful that Top Rank and Team Inoue mismanaged the Monster's return to the USA. He's an afterthought this weekend. Diidnt sell enough tickets to open the upper bowl at T Mobile. Top Rank was literally littering Vegas streets with free tickets on social media.
Garcia was exposed.