Ramon Cardenas has explained the move that allowed him to score a rare knockdown of Naoya Inoue during their 2025 super bantamweight title fight. Cardenas dropped Inoue in the second round before the Japanese star recovered and stopped him in the eighth.
According to Cardenas, the knockdown came from a movement pattern he had developed in the gym.
“I move left, then fake right and then fake left, then fake right and boom! I hit him,” Cardenas said. “It’s a trick of the trade.”
Cardenas has since linked up with trainer Manny Robles, who is pushing him to increase his punch output while keeping the power that has become his biggest weapon.
He returns Saturday against Leonardo Carrillo and says he is looking for another major opportunity at 122 pounds, with a rematch against Inoue or a future fight with Junto Nakatani among the possibilities he would welcome.
Image Credit: The Ring