Ramon Cardenas: “Undisputed Is The Ultimate Prize”
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 11 Apr 2025
The San Antonio-born junior featherweight contender prepares to fight undisputed king Naoya Inoue on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
INDIO, Calif. (April 10, 2025) — Ramon “Dinamita” Cardenas has gone from side hustles to the main stage. The San Antonio-born junior featherweight contender is preparing to fight undisputed champion and pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue on Sunday, May 4, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs), winner of 14 straight fights, is riding a string of standout victories, including February’s decision over Bryan Acosta. It wasn’t too long ago, however, that he moonlighted as a rideshare and meal delivery driver. Those gigs helped pay some bills while he built his name as an emerging prospect. Now a consensus top-10 contender, Cardenas and his head trainer, Joel Diaz, were always confident a title shot would come. “The Monster” needed an opponent for his first stateside appearance in nearly four years, and Team Cardenas jumped at the chance to author an epic undisputed upset.
To prepare for Inoue, Cardenas is stationed in Indio, California, at the Diaz Brothers Training Camp. Cardenas and Diaz understand the mammoth task and embrace the underdog mindset.
This is what they had to say following a day of training:
Ramon Cardenas
“I got a call a week after my last fight, 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.”
“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.”
“I know this is the type of fight and moment that can eat people up, but the ring doesn’t change. You can put it in the middle of the ocean. You can put it in the middle of the desert. The ring is the ring. It has four corners. I see it like that and understand the magnitude of this fight. I asked for his moment, and now I have to take advantage of it.”
“I started doing Lyft, DoorDash, and Uber to make ends meet. To fight for a world title is one thing, but to fight for the undisputed championship is the ultimate prize. For me to be in this position shows my work ethic and self-belief because I knew I was going to get here."
Joel Diaz
“This kid has devastating power in both hands. He is one of the fighters in boxing who can hurt you in the first or last round because he hits so hard. He moves really well, has good defense, and will rise to the moment.”
“If Ramon catches Inoue with either the right or the left, he will hurt him. We know that Inoue can be hurt.”
“Early in his career, he fought for free. All he wanted was a soda and some tacos after the fight. He started from nothing. He’s here, he loves the sport, and we’re going to shock the world.”
Inoue-Cardenas and the Rafael Espinoza-Edward Vazquez featherweight world title fight will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Ohashi Promotion, Teiken Promotions, and Sampson Boxing, tickets are on sale now via AXS.com.
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