'Monster' Inoue to end four-year Las Vegas absence vs Cardenas

TOKYO, Japan — Japan’s unbeaten Naoya Inoue will fight in Las Vegas for the first time in four years when he takes on American Ramon Cardenas in May, promoters Top Rank said Thursday.

The 31-year-old "Monster" will defend his undisputed super-bantamweight world titles in his first fight outside of Japan since 2021.

Inoue's last bout was a fourth-round knockout of South Korea's Kim Ye-joon in Tokyo in January, which saw the Japanese fighter take his record to 29-0 with 26 KOs.

The 29-year-old Cardenas has a 26-1 record, winning 14 by KO.

His most recent fight was a unanimous decision win over Mexico's Bryan Acosta last month.

Inoue has fought eight times in Japan since his last overseas bout, a KO win over Filipino Michael Dasmarinas in Las Vegas in June 2021.

He is also expected to fight in Saudi Arabia later this year after signing a sponsorship deal with Riyadh Season.

Inoue said he was mentally "exhausted" after beating Kim in a fight that had to be reorganized twice.

Inoue was originally scheduled to face Sam Goodman in December, but the fight was postponed when the Australian suffered a cut above his eye in training.

Goodman was then forced to withdraw after reopening the cut, with Kim being parachuted in as a last-minute replacement.