NAOYA Inoue wants to make it a hat trick of Las Vegas wins when he returns to Sin City to face Ramon Cardenas on May 4. Having wrapped up training camp on the West Coast, Inoue was locked in and not up for much chat at the final press conference.
“The last two times I was here in Vegas, it was during the pandemic, and I had to train accordingly. But this time I’m fighting at T-Mobile, and I think that’s the biggest difference,” he told ESPN’s Crystina Poncher on Friday.
Fighting in front of the largest crowd he’s seen in the States, Inoue’s T-Mobile headliner feels different from his previous visits. He’s returning as the legitimate ‘Monster’, a star to a different audience, looking to show the American fight fans, rather than his usual crowd at the Tokyo Dome, what he has now evolved into.
“I’m very motivated to fight in front of an American crowd in a big arena like this. But fighting on a Cinco de Mayo weekend, I feel that I am fighting an away game. So I don’t know what to expect.
“First of all, the ideal situation is to show the American fans my boxing and win with a knockout. But more than anything else, I want everyone to see what they have not been able to see live in Japan, here in the U.S.”
After Inoue endured two failed dances with Sam Goodman and the possibility of David Alan Picasso stepping in, Ramon Cardenas revealed how he got a call from his manager a week after beating 20-0 Bryan Acosta. In conjunction with Sampson Lewkowicz, Pro Box TV and his wider team, Cardenas accepted the opportunity immediately.
“My manager called me, I was buying some food, a normal call, we were talking about something else and then he said ‘Hey, would you like to fight Inoue?’ and I said yeah that’s a fight I’ve wanted and he said ‘Ok, May 4th’!”
Fighting for a world title, undisputed opportunity, Cardenas mentioned that he had not yet taken a sneak peek at Inoue’s belts, as they don’t belong to him.
“I know it’s going to be a tough fight. Inoue’s one of the pound-for-pound greats, but I’m ready for that. I picture myself coming out and doing my thing, showing everyone who I am,” added Cardenas.
