VALIDATION. Sweet, resounding validation.
That’s what Naoya Inoue earned when he stepped inside the squared circle of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and dismantled a battle-hardened Ramon Cardenas last Monday, May 5 (Philippine time), to retain his undisputed super bantamweight crown.
Yes, you read that right — validation. Because for all his accolades, all his history-making feats, and all the destruction he’s left in his wake, “The Monster” has never quite received his due.
Inoue has a pristine 30-0 record, with 27 of those victories coming by way of knockout. He’s a four-division world champion. He’s one of only three men in the history of the “four-belt era” — alongside Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk — to become undisputed in two weight classes. And he was the second to do it.
Yet, detractors have clung to familiar criticisms: a reluctance to consistently fight in the United States, a supposedly selective list of opponents, and accusations of dodging a particular Filipino boxer, whose relevance has waned largely by his own doing.
That noise was silenced when Inoue crossed the Pacific, walked into the fight capital of the world, and faced a legitimate, ranked contender in Cardenas — a man who didn’t show up to collect a check, but to throw hands.
Cardenas gave Inoue hell. He stood toe to toe. The San Antonio, Texas native even
dropped the defending champion with a sharp left hook in round two — the kind of moment that sends keyboard warriors into a frenzy. But what defines a true champion is not how he falls — it’s how he gets back up.
And Inoue answered with violent poetry. He flipped the switch, took control, and dropped Cardenas in the seventh stanza. Then, the 32-year-old unloaded a barrage in the eighth that forced the referee to call it off just 45 seconds in.
With that emphatic finish, Inoue removed any lingering doubt: he’s not just one of the best of his era — he may very well be the best.
It’s time to appreciate the brilliance unfolding before our eyes. Pugilists like Naoya Inoue are once-in-a-generation talents. Let’s not wait until he’s gone to celebrate him.
His résumé and resolve more than justify the moniker “The Japanese Monster.” Any other label — especially the absurd “Japanese Turtle” — misses the mark entirely.
(For comments or questions, reach the author at nissi.icasiano@gmail.com or visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nissi.icasiano.)
