What Happened to the Goodman Fight? Inoue on Replacement, Mismatch Spree
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 15 Apr 2025
While POTUS Donald Trump is in his latest shtick--slapping tax hikes on goods entering the United States-- perhaps his economic managers through the State Athletic Commissions (SACs) should start looking into increasing recreational tax on pro boxing fights featuring foreign fighters that reek of mismatch and outright money grab.
In short, bouts only meant to fleece the unwitting starry eyed American boxing fans.
They should look no farther than the forthcoming fight between defending champion Naoya Inoue and supposed challenger Ramon Cardenas for the undisputed world super bantamweight crown in Las Vegas next month.
Considering Cardenas is just another substitute opponent and does not appear to possess the credentials to mount a real challenge, his main event bout against Inoue has all the markings of (another) mismatch and a patent money grab by Inoue and his Japanese and American (Bob Arum) promoters on US soil.
Remember that Inoue was supposed to defend against Australian Sam Goodman, the WBO and IBF mandatory in May last year. That was bitterly disputed by Uzbek former unified titlist Morudjon Akhmadaliev who claimed that as WBA mandatory, he was first in the line per earlier agreed rotation.
But Goodman requested for a later date for his challenge which the Inoue camp acceded to. But then, instead of considering Akhmadaliev they chose another ex titlist, the aging TJ Doheny as replacement opponent to Akhmadaliev camp's vain protestations to the WBA. To avoid a potential court litigation, the WBA did not sanction Inoue"s defense vs Doheny.
After easily disposing off Doheny, Inoue went about honoring his mandatory defense against Goodman again to the bitter protestations from Akhmadaliev camp. The WBA appeased the Uzbek by sanctioning a fight for its interim belt against a Mexican. With that thorn out of the way, the Inoue vs Goodman was finalized for December in Japan.
However, a few days before the fight, Goodman was cut in the eyebrow during sparring and had to be pulled out from the scheduled title bout.
YeJoon Kim, a South Korean lowly world rated contender who was originally set to fight in the undercard was hastily upgraded as replacement opponent for Inoue.
After Inoue easily stopped the South Korean challenger, it was announced that the Japanese Monster will fight next in the United States with Arum as lead promoter.
The expectation was that Inoue will finally be making his real mandatory defense against Sam Goodman but most fans were surprised by the announcement that Inoue will be defending against WBC #1 Allan Picasso of Mexico. By that time, Akhmadaliev was already the WBA interim titlist.
However, Picasso did not accept the offer saying he was unprepared. That should have made the Inoue camp consider Akhmadaliev as opponent in Inoue's comeback to the US ring. Akhmadaliev is also familiar with American fans having beaten a US fighter for his erstwhile unified world belt a few years back.
But the Inoue camp came out with the announcement that Inoue will have at least three fights in 2025, one in the US against someone else and two in Japan including one against Akhmadaliev. It was apparent that Inoue camp wants what they perceived as the more difficult bouts held in Japan.
All of Inoue"s previous fights in the States were winnable bouts, if not mismatches. That should have sent the message that Inoue's promoters want an easy fight against "someone" in the US.
That "someone" turned out to be Ramon Cardenas.
Cardenas, an American of Mexican lineage living in San Antonio, Texas is also bearded but does not look as scary as Mexican Luis Nery, the last credible foe Inoue faced and defeated.
Holding a record of 26-1 with 14 KOs, Cardenas is rated #1 by the WBA but only #8 by the IBF and #10 by the WBO. He is not rated by the WBC.
Looking at the boxrec which maintains a comprehensive record and therefore a credible ranking of fighters, Cardenas is just #11 with the likes of Johnriel Casimero, Carl Jammes Martin and Filippus Nightumbwa well. ahead of him.
There are no prominent names in his fight resume with his last five opponents having a combined 23 losses though two were previously unbeaten.
Cardenas came out recently and as obvious marketing spiel, said that he will not be overawed by Inoue, that the Japanese is just human and can be beaten.
"For sure," he said "For me, it's more like I've been here before, maybe not on this scale, where I go into a fight people are expecting to lose, and then I pull something out of my hat where people are like, 'Oh shit'. I think this fight will be the same thing, going for all the marbles on this one, man, going for all the chips, undisputed! I don't plan on letting my opportunity go to waste."
I am not biting.
By the way, I don't remember Manny Pacquiao, to whom Inoue is often compared, fighting three straight "tomato cans" when he was still on "Blow by Blow" back in the 90s.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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