Jonhatan Cardoso headlines, gets hand raised at another ProBox TV card

TAMPA, Florida – Jonhatan Cardoso is getting the hang of these main events.

In a repeat trip to the final ProBox TV card of the night, Cardoso on Wednesday again revealed himself as the better man in a competitive scrap, edging Mexico’s gritty Eduardo Ramirez by unanimous decision scores of 97-93, 96-94, 96-94.

Lightweight Cardoso, 18-1, put the finishing touches on his showing in the 10th by remaining the aggressor against a rugged southpaw who has been in the ring in recent years against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, former titleholder Mark Magsayo and former title challenger Miguel Marriaga.

“Whenever it got hard in there, I knew I had worked so hard for this moment,” Cardoso said.

The action hit a fever pitch in the ninth when Ramirez backed up Cardoso with a power punch only to sustain a cut over his left eye seconds later when Brazil’s Cardoso slammed a hard right to the region.

“When he came at me, I pushed through with all the will in my heart – with all the strength I have,” Cardoso said.

The religious fighter didn’t separate from Ramirez, 28-5-3, through the early rounds, and Ramirez appeared to get the better of the fifth round with his dogged style.

But Cardoso pressed the action hard in the sixth, pressing Ramirez while landing a defining jab and showing the opponent this would be his night.

The victory follows Cardoso’s split decision win over Adam Lopez earlier this year on the ProBox TV stage.

In the co-main event, the class of Luis Reynaldo Nunez’s left-handed speed shined as the Dominican defused the power-punching intentions of Mexico’s relentless Leonardo Baez in featherweight action.

Nunez, 20-0, returned from contractual issues that had sidelined him since April 2023 to win by scores of 99-91, 98-92, 98-92, explaining that his hand speed made the difference.

“I used it to win – round by round,” Nunez said. “I feel like I did pretty dang good for being away. I didn’t miss a step.” 

Nunez, promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz (David Benavidez, Sebastian Fundora), paid the price for being out of the ring so long by missing weight by 1.8 pounds at Tuesday’s weigh-in.

Fatigue showed in the ninth as Baez, 21-6, landed the power punches he wanted to decide the bout, and even urged Nunez to the center of the ring for extended toe-to-toe action.

Yet Nunez remained elusive enough to win Baez’s admiration in the postfight locker room, where he praised Nunez’s attention to detail.

Nunez said he intends to return to the ring frequently now – “as soon as possible,” he said – and anticipates entering the rankings in 2025.

“I want all the opportunities that come with this,” he said.