Thursday, May 1

Sunday’s undisputed super-bantamweight title fight, between the champion Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas, continues to be marketed as a fight for the popular Cinco de Mayo weekend, and yet it remains possible that Inoue will be the better-supported fighter at the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday evening.

That Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is fighting the unremarkable William Scull on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has, for the first time since he succeeded Floyd Mayweather as the focal point of the Mexican-holiday weekend, potentially jeopardised that status. There is little question that if he returned to more familiar territory – he fought John Ryder in his home city of Guadalajara in 2023 and has otherwise consistently fought in the US – he would automatically reclaim it, even if Cardenas were to unexpectedly record the most entertaining of victories on Sunday. But between two considerably more appealing promotions on Friday in New York and on Sunday in Vegas, unless he records an explosive stoppage Alvarez is unlikely to attract the level of attention to which he has long been accustomed.

The Mexican-American Cardenas was matched with Inoue, of Japan, because his heritage provides the desired Mexican interest and, on the eve of Cinco de Mayo – and also because of how much closer Mexico is than Japan to Las Vegas – it would have appeared likely that he would have more of the crowd’s support on Sunday evening, particularly given some will be present to watch their compatriot Rafael Espinoza fight Edward Vazquez.

Monday, however, is also a Japanese holiday. Every year the Japanese celebrate Golden Week – the four holidays of Showa Day, Constitution Day, Greenery Day and Children’s Day. In 2025 the first of those, Showa Day, came on April 29. Greenery Day – a day dedicated to the environment – is May 4, when Inoue and Cardenas will fight, and Children’s Day is May 5. If Vegas represents an unlikely location for anyone of any culture to celebrate the environment, or indeed Children’s Day – when families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls – it was recently reported that 29 per cent, or 410,000 of a reported 1.4 million, of Japanese people living in the US are based in nearby California. BoxingScene also understands that promoters Top Rank’s targeted advertising was more successful in Los Angeles, San Francisco (both cities are in California) and New York than anywhere else.

Any accustomed to attending big fights in Vegas will recall the consistency with which they are on a Saturday evening, and if they are around for sufficiently long afterwards, how quiet the strip is, by comparison, on a Sunday. As a consequence of the many visitors leaving at the end of the weekend, it can also be difficult to get a reasonably priced domestic flight on a Sunday, but Top Rank’s Carl Moretti told BoxingScene: “MGM actually said ‘Sunday works better, because Monday’s a Japanese holiday and a Mexican holiday – obviously’. So it actually worked out good for the Japanese crowd, and the Mexican crowd.

“The best part about it is it’s not on pay-per-view. It’s on regular ESPN, and the lead-in is the Dodgers-Braves [game], with [celebrated baseball player Shohei] Ohtani, so they’re going to be doing cross-feeds and cross-promotion with Ohtani and Inoue. When you add those things up, it’s pretty cool.

“We have a weigh-in on Saturday, as opposed to Friday, and a press conference on Friday, as opposed to Thursday. 

“The bigger paydays, the bigger fights, are always gonna take place in Japan, because he’s the number one or number two athlete over there.

“He has gotten bigger [since his last fight in the US in 2021], in reputation and stature and everything else, so I think it will feel a little bit more comfortable to him, his team, and all of us when he walks out to an arena as opposed to a ring set up like a bubble [like it was during the pandemic]. 

“I don’t think it’ll be thousands and thousands [of Japanese fans] like you used to see for Ricky Hatton, but I think you’ll see a decent turnout for him.”

 

Friday, May 2

Naoya Inoue has the unmistakable air of a pound-for-pound superstar.

It’s an air that some of the very best fighters have at their peak – one cliched to the extent that none other than Antonio Tarver captured it effectively as Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa – and yet it is far from consistent in every fighter considered great.

For all of his undoubted ability, if Oleksandr Usyk is the world’s finest active fighter, he has never quite had it. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, who Usyk defeated twice to prove himself the finest heavyweight of the modern era, once did. Vasiliy Lomachenko, widely considered the world’s finest fighter until his defeat in 2020 by Teofimo Lopez, is another who never quite had it. Usyk has as much self-belief as the great Lomachenko had arrogance, and yet Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the world’s highest-profile but not very best fighter, has even had it in defeat.

It is difficult not to conclude that it is their self-belief, and perhaps above all else an awareness of their profile and fame and how people around them respond to them and also the importance they place in their images and reputations, that can define the way that those most marketable of fighters carry themselves. There is growing interest in Inoue around the world and in the US – there is considerably more marketing material surrounding Sunday’s fight on the Vegas strip than there was for that between, for example, Shakur Stevenson and Edwin de los Santos in 2023, which was also promoted by Top Rank and broadcast by ESPN (fans have gathered to attempt to see him in locations in the MGM Grand) – but in Japan he is one of their most celebrated of all athletes and it is perhaps partly that that could be detected from him from the elevated stage of the final pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

Inoue, not unlike has been seen with, particularly, Joshua and Alvarez, was immaculately groomed and dressed. Also like Joshua and Alvarez (fighters making weight often struggle to achieve that) he looked effortlessly healthy, and was relishing being on the eve of doing what he believes he does best and that for which he will forever attract the most attention.

The photogenic and marketable Emiliano Vargas – one of the sons of Fernando Vargas and who on Sunday fights Juan Leon at junior welterweight – has many of the raw materials required to potentially one day have the same air as Inoue if he proves capable of fighting anywhere near as effectively.

Inoue’s opponent Ramon Cardenas was ultimately considerably harder to read. Immediately after fights, fighters often wear sunglasses to mask the damage around the eyes; in the days beforehand, when they are wearing them it is tempting to conclude that they are struggling to make weight. The combination of Cardenas wearing dark sunglasses while chewing gum – potentially a sign of a dry mouth – may have betrayed a similar struggle. It may also be that given Inoue has gradually worked his way up to 122lbs, Cardenas is relying on his natural size advantage and attempting to retain even more size and weight.

“We thought there would be more Japanese [fans] come in from Japan,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum told BoxingScene when asked about the impact Inoue is having. “The hotels tell us that there’s a fairly large Japanese contingent, but not as many as they thought. I don’t know what the reason is – I don’t want to speculate. 

“But, otherwise, everybody has welcomed him with open arms. He’s a wonderful young man. He’s very easy to work with and talk to. It’s been a pleasure having him here.

“About 10,000 [is the expected attendance on Sunday].”

Before the conclusion of Thursday’s press conference Rafael Espinoza, who fights Edward Vazquez, had sung, and done so impressively, a song to his daughter who was present. It was his Spanish-speaking associate Scott Anthony who told BoxingScene what the song was about; Anthony also revealed that Espinoza and his wife are expecting another child in June.

 

Saturday, May 3

The anticipation surrounding Sunday’s undisputed junior featherweight title fight between Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas at T-Mobile Arena meant that the public, ceremonial weigh-in staged at the ballroom of the MGM Grand on Friday afternoon was oversubscribed.

Top Rank, which is promoting Inoue-Cardenas, announced on Friday morning that the first 200 in the queue would be allowed in. Despite that knowledge, once 200 – not including media, boxing industry professionals, fighters and their friends and families – were in, a crowd considerably higher in number formed outside of the entrance to the ballroom and stretched almost as far as the exit that leads to the considerably more appealing swimming pool outside of the MGM Grand.

If that was one demonstration of the interest in Inoue and Sunday’s contest, another could be seen inside. Not only was that 200-strong crowd largely of Asian descent, among those present elsewhere in the ballroom were Marco Antonio Barrera and Inoue’s former opponent Nonito Donaire – great fighters present to witness another great.

The fighters weighed in behind closed doors at 8.45 a.m. Chris Algieri, who is commentating on Sunday and has previously covered Cardenas’ progress for ProBox TV, saw little reason that that presented the naturally bigger Cardenas with an advantage, but he revealed that he detected nerves in the challenger to Inoue’s crown.

“I don’t think it matters much with these guys,” he told BoxingScene. “Naoya Inoue’s a very, very disciplined guy – this is his third or fourth weight class. I don’t think he struggles that much. Ramon, I’ve called many of his fights – he also does not struggle to make the weight.

“Inoue looked freaky. Super-lean, muscular. He’s got big legs. Definitely looked strong for the weight. Cardenas looked like Cardenas – a lot of the time, Mexican fighters don’t have the most chiseled physiques, but I thought he looked lean in his midsection. Both look to be fit. But Inoue’s something else – he’s built out of different things.

“Cardenas looked good. His eyes didn’t look sunken in when I got to speak to him afterwards. A lot of times when guys cut a lot of weight, you can almost see the light is out of them. I didn’t see that in Ramon. He looked good to me.

“[But] that was the very first time I saw Ramon look nervous. I’ve seen him look cool, calm and collected this whole week – but as I was walking off the stage, I did see some nerves. The eyes. I could just tell – the stare looked different. It’s both [Inoue and the occasion]. But I could have just caught him at a moment that was a temporary lapse.

“You can tell Inoue’s a real superstar. He’s used to doing these interviews. He’s just going through the motions. With Ramon, there’s a lot of passion. It’s his first time here, but he seems ready for it.

“This feels big. For a weigh-in … Japan’s a long way. It is a Cinco de Mayo weekend – it’s not a Canelo [Alvarez] weekend. A Canelo weekend on Cinco de Mayo is all week long – it’s great. It’s not that vibe. But that was a great turnout for a weigh-in.”

The media presence typically grows in size as a fight week progresses. It was notable at Saturday’s weigh-in that many had arrived earlier in the day from New York, where they had attempted to attend the promotion headlined by Ryan Garcia-Rolando “Rolly” Romero; each spoke to BoxingScene of their disappointment in what had taken place.

Sunday, May 4

Naoya Inoue’s performance in victory over Ramon Cardenas has, perhaps harshly, divided opinion. BoxingScene witnessed one of the world’s three finest active fighters (he is competing with Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford to be considered the first, but there is little question that of the three he is the most flawed) consistently entertain in a largely dominant performance against an opponent who had been under-appreciated and proved the perfect complement to what will almost certainly remain Inoue’s highest-profile fight in the US.

Post-fight Sampson Lewkowicz, Cardenas’ co-promoter, told BoxingScene that Akihiko Honda, the co-promoter of Inoue, had already expressed a desire to see Cardenas fight again, in Japan. Inoue-Cardenas had represented a competitive and yet one-sided fight – until the concussive conclusion Cardenas remained ambitious and continued to pose a threat, but beyond the stunning second-round knockdown, Inoue was largely dominant. That his superb technique impressed as much in the eighth round as it did in the first was particularly relevant. Equally relevant, particularly in 2025, is that not only did Inoue again show signs of decline – judged against his very, very high standards – as he did 12 months earlier against Luis Nery, but that he showed that again moving up in weight would not be wise.

It is little coincidence that, regardless of the reality that he is a fighter who takes risks, he has been knocked down twice in his past four fights at 122lbs. It also should not be overlooked that by fighting so far above 108lbs, the weight at which he won his first world title in 2014, he risks ageing more rapidly than had he remained lighter – nor that he is an aggressive, offensive fighter considerably more focused on hurting his opponent than of evading anything he might have to absorb in exchange and that it is defence-minded fighters who typically have lengthier careers.

That a fantasy fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, not only a lightweight but one who is both particularly big and explosive at 135lbs, continues to be speculated about is almost irresponsible, not least given an all-Japanese contest with the 118lbs Junto Nakatani is so much more realistic and the most appealing fight that can be made today (Davis, similarly, has rivals in his division considerably more capable of testing him).

It is difficult not to remember similar suggestions being made when Vasiliy Lomachenko, an even greater fighter at his peak – and one whose first language also wasn’t English, therefore undermining his marketability in the West – having to fight well beyond his natural weight division to earn the money and appreciation his considerable talents demanded and to recognise that he is another who perhaps continues to not get the credit he truly deserves.

Bob Arum, Inoue’s other co-promoter, previously told BoxingScene that he can see Inoue fighting at 126lbs in 2026, potentially after a fight with Nakatani. Inoue said at Friday’s weigh-in that he expects to one day fight at featherweight too. But Arum is every bit as effective at promoting fighters as Inoue is at stopping them; he will also know that Inoue is subtly declining, that his 6ft 1ins featherweight Rafael Espinoza might prove far too big for the 5ft 5ins Japanese icon, and that by such a time as the second half of 2026 there may be greater value to Top Rank in Inoue enhancing Espinoza’s reputation than him making further defences of his undisputed title at 122lbs.

Incidentally, the nature of the victory over Cardenas meant that Inoue, in recording his 23rd stoppage in world-title fights, surpassed the record previously held by the heavyweight Joe Louis. Fighting and performing as he did in the US has already enhanced his legacy, but it seems particularly fitting that he achieved that record at the T-Mobile Arena, so close to Caesar’s Palace and where the statue of Louis stands.