The knockout was the beginning of the end for Robles as Cardena became more efficient and precise with his punches, eventually stopping Erik in the fifth round. Cardenas landed 40.2 percent of his power punches while Robles was only able to land 9.9 percent of his total punches, demonstrating Ramon’s defensive improvements (Compubox).
Over the course of the past year, Ramon has gained valuable experience by being in the ring with both Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. Cardenas trainer Manny Robles was asked about Ramon’s experience being in the ring with both: “I always said you learn more from your losses than you learn from your wins. That fight with Inoue was a tremendous learning experience. I believe…tremendous learning experience,” Manny said of the Inoue fight.
In preparation for his match against Erik, they went to Los Angeles to spar with Nakatani, which consisted of ninety-nine rounds over a month and a half. “What better recipe than sparring one of the best boxers … pound for pound, one of the best boxers in the world,” Manny said of those sparring sessions.
Being in the ring with two great boxers of the caliber of Inoue and Nakatani is only going to improve Cardenas; the sky is the limit. He looks much improved offensively and defensively, after appearing very relaxed and calculated against Roble. He hopes to climb back to the top of the division soon.
“Mentally it showed me that I belong at the top, that’s all it really was. Just showed me mentally that I belong at the top,” Cardenas said of sharing the ring with Inoue and Nakatani. There is no opponent he wouldn’t get in the ring with now after sharing the ring with both. He doesn’t have a future opponent in mind and will go 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 faces Alan Picasso in the main event, while Junto faces Sebastian Hernandez in the main event.
If they win their respective matches, they are expected to fight each other in May 2026. Out of respect for both fighters, Cardenas is unwilling to compare or give an assessment of what a potential matchup between Inoue and Nakatani would look like. It’s a war the boxing world is holding its breath to see.
