LAS VEGAS – After one boxing newcomer sought to flex his status by staging a card at New York’s Times Square and by shifting Mexico’s most popular fighter to Saudi Arabia the next night, a 93-year-old man sat quietly in a press room, smiling in delight after producing a spine-tingling Sunday night.

“It shows that just because you have a shitload of money, it doesn’t mean you’re going to do entertaining, fun fights,” Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum said after stirring TKO finishes recorded at T-Mobile Arena by his undisputed junior-featherweight champion Naoya Inoue and unbeaten featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza.

“We know, being in this business, that if you don’t entertain the public and give them exciting fights, your clientele is going to drift off. It apparently isn’t their business. They have some other idea of what they’re doing that I really don’t understand.”

Arum is referring to Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh’s highly panned Friday and Saturday cards that were filled with lucrative purses but devoid of drama (and punches), leaving the fate of the traditional boxing weekend to this third and final show, staged in its usual place.

“I did the things I wanted to do for the people to be entertained,” Mexico’s Espinoza said after combining with challenger Edward Vazquez to land 330 punches in the seven-round fight – just 14 less punches thrown in the 36 combined rounds of three of Alalshikh’s high-profile bouts (Canelo Alvarez-William Scull, Ryan Garcia-Rolly Romero, Devin Haney-Jose Ramirez).

“I want to be the next Mexican idol,” Espinoza 27-0 (23 KOs) said. “In order to achieve that, I need to have great fights. I want to demonstrate that. This was more than pressure. It was about excitement. I knew if I gave everything, people would notice.

“I knew [those other] fights this weekend weren’t that good, but I told myself I’m going to try to steal the night, and I think we did it. We saved this weekend.”

Espinoza even stuck around to serenade the crowd of 8,000-plus with a variety of Spanish songs, while Japan’s Inoue 30-0 (27 KOs) air-gunned T-shirts out to the masses following his captivating bout.  

By comparison, Arum reasoned that Alalshikh sabotaged his own shows.

Not only did he foolishly turn his back on millions in live-gate earnings by not going to Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center in favor of a curtained-off, chain-link fence spot allowing for an audience of 300 in Times Square, he set high-profile fighters in three bouts who were eagerly anticipating their next, more lucrative fight.

In that scenario, said Arum, “there’s no incentive for guys to take risks. The next fighter’s lined up, with money that’s already set.”

Arum was pointing directly at both Alvarez, who formally announced his planned September 12 bout with fellow four-division champion Terence Crawford after defeating Scull, and Garcia and Haney, who were supposed to be headed to a rematch before Romero upset Garcia by unanimous decision.

The fate of Garcia-Haney II is now unknown.

“[Alvarez] had already been promised $100 million to fight Crawford. Why would he take a chance [versus Scull]?” Arum asked of a bout that offered the least total punches in CompuBox’s 40-year history of tracking 12-round fights.

“That’s terrible for boxing. The incentive to look great is gone, and the only sure way to get to the great money is to not engage in a fight,” Arum said. “Canelo has shown in his last few fights that he’s just a businessman.

“Take Haney. … That fight was an absolute disgrace. He came in there knowing he had to fight Garcia next, and so [Devin’s father-trainer Bill] Haney instructed his fighter to not take a lot of chances, give him a lot of movement. You’re with a guy whose best days are behind him. Stink up the joint. It doesn’t matter, because he cashes Turki’s check,” Arum said. “That was an awful fight.”

The polar opposite was Inoue overcoming a second-round knockdown by 15/1 betting underdog Ramon Cardenas of San Antonio to unleash a final, hammering barrage that led to the TKO when Cardenas slumped backward in his corner during the eighth round.

“Cardenas was much stronger and tougher than I expected,” Inoue said. “This was the [weekend's] most attractive fight.”

Inoue revealed his inner warrior by rising from the canvas to batter and drop Cardenas in the seventh, setting up the finish.

As he anticipates a September 14 date in Tokyo versus former unified 122lbs champion Murodjon “M.J.” Akhmadaliev and a May 2026 bout against unbeaten countryman and bantamweight champion Junto Naklatani, Inoue told BoxingScene he does not anticipate a move up to featherweight to meet either Espinoza or someone like fellow 126lbs champion Nick Ball, who was rumored as a December foe in Saudi Arabia.

“As long as I can make the weight in this division, I will stay in this division,” Inoue said.

Given that 115lbs champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is intrigued to move up in weight for Inoue, along with the presence of the coming opponents and Cardenas, the decision appears highly logical.

Cardenas’ manager, Mike Miller, told BoxingScene Cardenas may move to bantamweight to pursue another title shot, and Cardenas promoter Sampson Lewkowicz said Cardenas has been invited to fight in Japan, where all four 118lbs champions reside.

Cardenas stunningly dropped Inoue late in the second round, and was deprived of moving to follow up quickly because the bell soon rang after Inoue arose. The champion rallied impressively, pounding Cardenas and skirting wildly flung blows before dropping Cardenas on four consecutive right hands in the seventh.

At times during the hail of Inoue barrages, Cardenas would smile.

“As funny as it sounds, I love being in there, giving the fans a show,” Cardenas said. “For me, I’ve dreamt of stuff like this – fighting on a big card in Vegas. I was just here to give my all. I told my trainer, ‘If I go out, I go out on my shield.’ I gained a lot of fans because of this.” 

Knowing who carries that attitude matters. Cardenas was driving for Lyft as recently as 2023. He trained mercilessly in the California desert under trainer Joel Diaz, another detail Top Rank’s Hall of Fame matchmakers considered before inviting Cardenas to take the significant fight that marked Inoue’s return to the U.S. after a four-year absence.

Based on the night’s riveting events, he said he’ll entertain coming back soon.

And Cardenas knows his stock has risen for going out on his shield. He wrote on X: “How about this Lyft driver now?”

Top Rank has been in business since 1966. Turki Alalshikh’s operation is still in hiring mode, making missteps that both boxing insiders and the general public are taking account of.

Arum fully admitted he, like other promoter peers, would send his fighters to fight for Alalshikh if the money was right for a favorable mismatch.

“Let’s be honest about it: There’s no medals on any of us in boxing, and if the Saudis offer one of my fighters really big money in a fight I believe will be non-competitive and boring, yeah, I would send him. The money is the money,” Arum said. “This is a business. We’re not amateurs.”

Still, the stench of those first two weekend cards was lingering and on the minds of the Sunday combatants.

“I want to say sorry to the people about the other fights we saw this weekend, but we came here to bring the fans a great fight,” trainer Diaz said. “I know what I’ve got, and, tonight, Ramon Cardenas showed what kind of warrior he is. Even in a loss, you gain.”

Arum smiled at the contrast, seeing his 21-year-old prospect Emiliano Vargas bounce on his feet while watching Inoue as Friday Times Square winner Teofimo Lopez attended and expressed awe about Inoue’s triumph.  

“A brilliant performance on a great show, and boxing needed that after swallowing and paying good money for Friday’s show from New York and Saturday’s show from Riyadh,” Arum said.

“This was what boxing is really about. The other stuff defies what it’s about. It’s not entertaining. It’s agonizing.”