SAN ANTONIO – After 10 hard-fought rounds, Ramon Cardenas and Bryan Acosta shared a moment of respect backstage, giving one another their due for putting on an all-out slugfest for the fans here at the Boeing Center at Tech Port. Cardenas, who emerged from the fight with a unanimous decision victory, was pleased with the show he gave his hometown fans in his first appearance in San Antonio since 2023.
“A Mexican war – that’s what we gave the people,” said the 29-year-old Cardenas, 26-1 (14 KOs). “Win, lose or draw, I told him, it’s all for the love of the sport. It’s beautiful. That’s what boxing should be about – the best fighting the best.”
The fight was not without drama for Cardenas, who is rated No. 2 by the WBA at 122lbs. Cardenas was dropped in the seventh round – a product of what he says was laziness due to being bored with how uneventful the fight was for the first six rounds. But he rose up to fight to the decision win.
“As funny as that sounds, I was doing so well that I got bored,” he said. “I was like, ‘What else are you gonna bring me?’ I got reckless and I paid for it.”
Following the victory, Cardenas says he doesn’t know what comes next. But if he had his way, he would prefer to face the division’s top fighter, undisputed champion Naoya Inoue.
“I would love to fight Inoue,” Cardenas said. “I’m a competitor, I want to fight the best. Inoue’s the best and I want to fight him. If I can get him this year, whenever he wants, I’m ready for it.”
Cardenas added that, if the money were right, he would also fight his friend and gym mate Murodjon Akhmadaliev, the former unified champion who now holds the WBA interim title, should Inoue end up vacating his WBA belt.
ProBox TV CEO Garry Jonas says they are observing the situation with the WBA and Inoue while keeping their options open.
“A lot depends on the WBA and how it shakes out with Inoue,” Jonas said. “We’re gonna have to wait and see. It sucks to be in a position like that where you’re waiting on a unified champion to decide who he’s gonna fight and who he’s not gonna fight. There’s nothing more that we can do other than keep him in a good spot and give him good fights and keep him ready.”
Although Cardenas can’t control what Inoue decides, he can relax a little and prepare himself for the next move.
“I’m gonna go and enjoy some food, then take a couple days off, talk to my manager, talk to my promoter and see where we go from here,” said Cardenas.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
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