Naoya Inoue stopped Ramon Cardenas in a thriller to retain the undisputed junior featherweight championship Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The finish came at the 0:45 mark of the eighth round. Inoue dropped Cardenas late in the seventh and then stopped him with a flurry of punches early in the eighth.
Inoue had to overcome a huge moment of adversity to secure his latest title defense. Cardenas floored him with a left hook late in the second round. However, Inoue returned to his feet and made it to the bell.
