Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas Title Fight Ring Walk Times

Forbes

03-05-2025

The 2025 Cinco de Mayo weekend run of boxing cards ends with the first American appearance of Naoya Inoue since June 2021. Inoue has fought eight times in Japan since his last American scrap, winning each of those boxing matches via knockout. On Sunday, May 4, Inoue puts his undisputed junior featherweight championship on the line in Las Vegas when he steps into the ring against Ramon Cardenas. We look at when the Inoue vs. Cardenas ring walks are expected.
Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas for Inoue's undisputed junior featherweight championship
Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for Espinoza's WBO featherweight title
Rohan Polanco vs. Fabian Maidana for Polanco's WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Title
Emiliano Fernando Vargas vs. Juan Leon for the vacant Jr. NABF Junior Welterweight Title
Mikito Nakano vs. Pedro Marquez: Featherweight
Art Barrera Jr. vs. Juan Carlos Guerra Jr: Junior middleweight
Raeese Aleem vs. Rudy Garcia: Featherweight
Patrick O'Connor vs. Marcus Smith: Cruiserweight
Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas are expected to make their ring walk for the undisputed title fight at approximately 11 p.m ET.
Sunday, May 4
6:15 p.m. ET
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV
ESPN+
Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) won his first major title in April 2014 when he knocked out Adrián Hernández to claim the WBC light flyweight title. Since then, the 32-year-old has only stepped into the boxing ring when a title is on the line. He is unbeaten in those title fights, racking up a 24-0 record with 22 knockouts in those title fights.
Over his career, Inoue won and defended the WBO junior bantamweight title seven times before moving to bantamweight for nine bouts. During that run from May 2018 to December 2022, Inoue won the WBA, IBF, and WBC titles. In his final fight at bantamweight, Inoue knocked out Paul Butler to win the WBO bantamweight crown and earn undisputed champion status in the 118-pound division.
In July 2023, Inoue moved up to junior featherweight, claiming the WBC and WBO belts in his first fight in his new weight division. He accomplished that feat by earning an eighth-round TKO over Stephen Fulton. Then, in December 2023, he became the undisputed 122-pound champion with a 10th-round knockout win over Marlon Tapales.
Since his win over Tapales, Inoue has defended his title three more times, defeating Luis Nery, TJ Doheny, and most recently, Kim Ye-joon by knockout.
The man known as 'The Monster' is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings.
Ramon Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) has his work cut out for him on May 3. The 29-year-old steps into the spotlight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas having never competed for a world title.
Cardenas is the No. 9 ranked junior featherweight, according to ESPN. He is riding a 14-fight winning streak heading into the upcoming fight card, with seven of those wins coming by knockout.
In his most recent trip to the ring, Cardenas defeated Bryan Acosta by unanimous decision. The loss was the first of Acosta's professional career.
Rafael 'El Divino' Espinoza (26-0 with 22 knockouts) was 23-0 when he stepped into the ring against Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023. Espinoza was a +650 bettering underdog to the Ramirez, who brought the WBO featherweight title with him into the ring thaRafael 'El Divino' Espinoza (26-0 with 22 knockouts) was 23-0 when he stepped into the ring against Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023. Espinoza was a +650 bettering underdog to Ramirez, who brought the WBO featherweight title with him into the ring that night. The champ was a massive -1687 betting favorite. When the fight ended, Ramirez's title reign was over, with Espinoza scoring a majority decision win.
Espinoza defended his crown in June 2024 with a fourth-round TKO win over Sergio Chirino Sanchez.
In his most recent outing, Espinoza faced Ramirez in a rematch. The betting odds were much closer for the second go-round, with Ramirez at -138 and Espinoza coming in at -106. The rematch ended six rounds into the fight, with Ramirez raising his hand 12 seconds into that round to wave off the fight. Ramirez had absorbed a right hand to the eye before he stopped fighting and later claimed he could not see out of his right eye.
Espinoza has not fought since his win over Ramirez. He is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the ESPN featherweight rankings.
Edward Vazquez (17-2, 4 KOs) was 11-0 before losing a controversial split decision to Raymond Ford in February 2022. He bounced back from his first career setback with four wins. Vasquez then stepped up to junior lightweight to face IBF champ Joe Cordina in November 2023, losing a majority decision to the champ. In his most recent outing, Vazquez downed Kenneth Taylor in four rounds in October 2024.
Forbes will have more on the Naoya Inoue Vs. Ramon Cardenas fight card as fight night nears.