Ramon “Dinamita” Cardenas has gone from side hustles to the main stage. The San Antonio-born junior featherweight contender is preparing to fight undisputed champion and pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue on Sunday, May 4, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs), winner of 14 straight fights, is riding a string of standout victories, including February’s decision over Bryan Acosta. It wasn’t too long ago, however, that he moonlighted as a rideshare and meal delivery driver. Those gigs helped pay some bills while he built his name as an emerging prospect. Now a consensus top-10 contender, Cardenas and his head trainer, Joel Diaz, were always confident a title shot would come. “The Monster” needed an opponent for his first stateside appearance in nearly four years, and Team Cardenas jumped at the chance to author an epic undisputed upset.
To prepare for Inoue, Cardenas is stationed in Indio, California, at the Diaz Brothers Training Camp. Cardenas and Diaz understand the mammoth task and embrace the underdog mindset.