LAS VEGAS – Ramon Cardenas reiterated his belief that he has “nothing to lose” when on Sunday he challenges the champion Naoya Inoue for the undisputed junior-featherweight title.

The 32-year-old Inoue is such a favorite for Sunday’s contest at the T-Mobile Arena that he has already described his date in September with Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev as “written in stone”.

Cardenas, 29, recognizes that regardless of the improvements he is demonstrating he has been matched with the Japanese icon partly on account of how suitable his Mexican-American heritage is for the occasion of Cinco de Mayo weekend, and shortly before weighing in at 121.8lbs – narrowly lighter than the champion – he again recognized the role he has been chosen to play.

“I’m excited and I’m ready, and waiting,” he said at the MGM Grand. “I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I’m taking that mindset with me everywhere I go. 

“I have nothing to lose and I’m here to win everything – winning this fight puts me on a big map, because no one knows me. That’s the best thing about it. From one day to the next, legends are born [in boxing], and I feel like this is my moment.”

Inoue is fighting in the US for the first time since June 2021, when he defeated the Filipino Michael Dasmarinas in conditions undermined by the Covid pandemic.

“It’s a different altogether,” he said when asked to compare with that fight four years earlier. “It’s quite different. 

“I just want to get stronger. That’s the feeling I have. 

“He looks like he was in good condition and is looking forward to it.”

He was then asked about his plans to again move up and weight, and responded: “My final target is featherweight.” 

Undisputed junior featherweight title – 12 rounds

Naoya Inoue – 121.9lbs 

Ramon Cardenas – 121.8lbs

WBO featherweight title – 12 rounds

Rafael Espinoza – 125.4lbs 

Edward Vasquez – 125.6 

Junior welterweight – eight rounds

Emiliano Vargas – 138.7lbs

Juan Leon – 139.9lbs

Welterweight – 10 rounds

Rohan Polanco – 146.2lbs

Fabian Maidana – 146lbs

Featherweight – 10 rounds

Pedro Marquez Medina – 126lbs

Mikito Nakano – 125.9lbs

Junior middleweight – six rounds

Art Barrera Jnr – 152.7lbs

Juan Carlos Guerra Jnr – 153.7lbs

Featherweight – 10 rounds

Ra’eese Aleem – 125.6lbs

Rudy Garcia – 125.3lbs

Cruiserweight – four rounds

Patrick O’Connor – 196.1lbs

Marcus Smith – 188lbs