The boxing world is shocked after the explosive statements by Ramón Cárdenas, who said he was forced to lose his fight against Naoya Inoue on May 4 at the T-Mobile Arena. In a hot interview withBoxingSceneOn Thursday, Cárdenas released a bomb by revealing: “They forced me to lose against Naoya Inoue. I had no choice.” The accusation has unleashed a whirlwind of speculation about a possible mistress in the fight for the undisputed title of supergallo weight, leaving sport in suspense.
Cárdenas’s revelation
Cárdenas (26-2, 14 Kos), who fell by Tko in the eighth assault after a brave effort that included a Knockdown in the second round against Inoue (30-0, 27 kos), said he faced external pressures before combat. “I received threats and clear orders from my team not to win,” Cárdenas confessed, with tears in my eyes. “They told me that if I didn’t let Inoue win, my career and my family would pay the consequences. It was not a fair fight.” The Texan, an Underdog of +1700, insisted that its heroic performance – with 80 of 290 blows connected according to compubox – was deliberately sabotaged in the final rounds.
Cárdenas specifically pointed to a member of his own training team as the link with the alleged threats, suggesting that the orders came from “higher interests” that wanted to protect Inoue’s reign. Although he did not provide concrete evidence in the interview, he promised to deliver documents and recordings to the Nevada Athletic Commission for formal investigation.
Reactions and scandal in boxing
Cárdenas’s statement has generated immediate chaos. Fans on social networks are divided, with an X user writing, “if this is true, Inoue and their team are finished – total scandal!” while another replied, “Cárdenas only looks for excuses for losing. Inoue legitimately dominated him.” The promoter of Inoue, Bob Arum, dismissed the accusations as “ridiculous and without foundation,” declaring, “Naoya won with talent, not with traps. This is a desperate attempt by Cárdenas by relevance.”
However, the incident of the second round, where Inoue was shot down but received extra time to recover according to some critics, has resurfaced as a point of discussion. Timothy Bradley Jr. De ESPN commented, “if there is evidence, this would change everything. Boxing cannot afford another scandal like this.” The Nevada Athletic Commission has announced that it will investigate Cárdenas’s claims, which could lead to sanctions or even the cancellation of the result if irregularities are confirmed.
What follows for Inoue and Cárdenas?
The Cárdenas bomb arrives at a critical moment, just when Inoue had requested an immediate rematch to erase the Knockdown stain. Now, his legacy is at stake, and an investigation could delay his plans against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September. For Cárdenas, revelation could be a double edge: if its innocence is proven, it could demand a fair rematch; Otherwise, risk being seen as a conspirator. With worldwide boxing pending research, the next weeks promise to be an earthquake that could redefine the career of both fighters.
