The knockdown was the start of the top for Robles as Cardena became simpler and precise along with his punches, ultimately stopping Erik within the fifth round. Cardenas landed 40.2 percent of his power punches while Robles was only capable of land 9.9 percent of his total punches, demonstrating Ramon’s defensive improvements (Compubox).
Over the course of the last 12 months, Ramon has gained invaluable experience in having been within the ring with each Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. Cardenas trainer Manny Robles was asked about Ramon’s experience of getting been within the ring with each, “I’ve at all times said you learn more out of your defeats than you do out of your wins. That fight with Inoue was an incredible learning experience. I consider…tremendous learning experience,” said Manny of the Inoue fight.
In preparation for his match against Erik, they went to Los Angeles for sparring with Nakatani, which consisted of ninety-nine rounds over the course of a month and a half. “What higher recipe than to spar top-of-the-line boxers…pound for pound, top-of-the-line boxers on this planet,” said Manny of those sparring sessions.
Having been within the ring with two great boxers of the caliber of Inoue and Nakatani is barely going to enhance Cardenas; the sky is the limit. He looks much improved offensively and defensively, having appeared very relaxed and calculated against Roble. He hopes to climb back to the highest of the division very soon.
“Mentally, it showed me that I belong at the highest, that’s all it really was. Just mentally showed me I belong at the highest,” said Cardenas of getting shared the ring with Inoue and Nakatani. There’s no opponent he wouldn’t get within the ring with now after having shared the ring with each. He doesn’t have a future opponent in mind and can go on whatever path his team sets him on.
Inoue and Nakatani are scheduled to fight next Saturday, December 27, on the Ring V: Night of the Samurai card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Naoya is facing Alan Picasso within the fundamental event, while Junto is facing Sebastian Hernandez within the co-main.
In the event that they win their respective matches, they’re expected to fight one another in May of 2026. Out of respect to each fighters, Cardenas is unwilling to match or provide an assessment on what a possible match between Inoue and Nakatani would appear to be. It’s a war that the boxing world is holding its breath to see.
