Naoya Inoue makes his first appearance outside of Japan since 2021 this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena this weekend, as he defends his undisputed super bantamweight title against Ramon Cardenas.
Sky Sports televise Inoue vs Cardnas live in the UK, while ESPN+ is the place to see the action in America.
After cleaning out the bantamweight division after spells as world champion at the lower weights, Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) set his sights on the super bantamweight division, and after halting Stephen Fulton, he then flattened Marlon Tapales and Luis Nery to complete the belt collection.
TJ Doheny was stopped in seven in September last year, and the Japanese wrecking ball was last out in January, wiping out the overmatched Ye Joon Kim in four rounds.
Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) is on a long winning streak since dropping a majority decision over ten rounds to Danny Flores in 2017, and has won 14 on the spin since, but has never fought at the championship distance, going ten rounds on four previous occasions.
He is coming off a decent win, outpointing the previously unbeaten Brian Acosta in San Antonio in February, but this is a massive step up for the man from Texas.
Prediction: Inoue will want to make big waves in 2025 and beyond, and can start with a statement knockout win against Cardenas. I think the end can come before halfway.
Seek and destroy mode 😳@NaoyaInoue_410 | MAY 4 | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/gGtCCLhT7v
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 1, 2025
Espinoza defends against Vazquez
There is more world title action on the undercard, as Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KOs) defends his WBO featherweight title for a third time, this time against Edward Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs).
Espinoza won the belt in December 2023, taking an upset majority decision win against Robeisy Ramirez, and after a first defence, he then emphatically defeated Ramirez in a December 2024 rematch, stopping the Cuban in six.
Vazquez is next up for the champion, and he has only lost in good company. The Texan dropped a split decision to Ray Ford in 2022, and was competitive in losing on the cards for the IBF title in November 2023 to Joe Cordina. He is coming off a fourth-round retirement win over Kenneth Taylor last October.
Prediction: Espinoza is a classy operator, and can take a stoppage win in the later rounds in this one.
Full undercard preview
In ten rounders, welterweight prospect Rohan Polanco (15-0, 10 KOs) can remain unbeaten by outscoring Fabian Andres Maidana (24-3, 18 KOs), who took Mario Barrios the full twelve rounds last May.
ROHAN POLANCO FORCES A STOPPAGE 😳 pic.twitter.com/othepfhwyQ
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) June 29, 2024
Ra’eese Aleem (21-1, 12 KOs) should take his featherweight clash with Rudy Garcia (13-1-1, 2 KOs) on points, and also at featherweight, Mikito Nakano (12-0, 11 KOs) can score a stoppage win against Pedro Marquez Medina (16-1, 10 KOs).
The sole eight rounder is at super lightweight, where Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) can halt Juan Leon (11-2-1, 2 KOs), and in the only six rounder, Art Barrera Jr (8-0, 6 KOs) can do the same at super welterweight against Juan Carlos Guerra Jr (6-1-1, 2 KOs). The only for round contest is at cruiserweight, where Patrick O’Connor can debut with an early win against Marcus Smith (2-1, 2 KOs).
