Naoya Inoue rocked the boxing world tonight in an electric defeat of Ramon Cardenas where he got up off the deck to win by stoppage.
Speaking straight after the fight a short time ago in ring, here’s what he said via Japanese to English translation:
“I think everyone who watched today’s fight can see that I proved I love a good brawl. It was a lot of fun.”
On when he got knocked down in round 2:
“Well, I was quite surprised, but I was able to stay calm and reassess my approach to take him down. Well, after the first round, I thought I had slightly adjusted the distance, but in the second round, there was still a bit of a gap. So, from the third round, I made absolutely sure not to get hit.”
On his opponent tonight:
“He was an extremely tough opponent. I think I did considerable damage, but he was coming at me desperately to knock me out. It made me realize boxing isn’t that easy.”
On what next:
“I felt there were a lot of fans who were eagerly waiting for this. If everyone enjoyed it, I’d love to fight in America again.”
On ending the weekend for boxing on a high note:
“Well, there’s some debate about yesterday’s and today’s three matches, but I think I was able to bring the most excitement.”
Alas, Inoue rescued boxing from some not great fights earlier this weekend.
He ended the weekend on a bang for the entire sport.
Maximum respect, hopefully that Nakatani fight can get made at some point.
Whether in America or Japan.
