Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Ramon Cardenas impressed with his performance Thursday night at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when he knocked out Erik Robles with a vicious punch in the fifth round.

Cardenas began the match very measured, calculating his opponent and then gradually increasing his output. Ramon threw a fight high 49 punches in the third round when a perfectly timed right hook sent the 25-year-old Robles to the canvas.

The knockdown was the beginning of the end for Robles as Cardena became more effective and precise with his punches, ultimately stopping Erik in the fifth round. Cardenas landed 40.2 percent of his power punches while Robles was only able to land 9.9 percent of his total punches, demonstrating Ramon’s defensive improvements (Compubox).

Over the course of the last year, Ramon has gained valuable experience in having been in the ring with both Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. Cardenas trainer Manny Robles was asked about Ramon’s experience of having been in the ring with both, “I’ve always said you learn more from your defeats than you do from your wins. That fight with Inoue was a tremendous learning experience. I believe…tremendous learning experience,” said Manny of the Inoue fight.

In preparation for his match against Erik, they went to Los Angeles for sparring with Nakatani, which consisted of ninety-nine rounds over the course of a month and a half. “What better recipe than to spar one of the best boxers…pound for pound, one of the best boxers in the world,” said Manny of those sparring sessions.

Having been in the ring with two great boxers of the caliber of Inoue and Nakatani is only going to improve Cardenas; the sky is the limit. He looks much improved offensively and defensively, having appeared very relaxed and calculated against Roble. He hopes to climb back to the top of the division very soon.

“Mentally, it showed me that I belong at the top, that’s all it really was. Just mentally showed me I belong at the top,” said Cardenas of having shared the ring with Inoue and Nakatani. There’s no opponent he wouldn’t get in the ring with now after having shared the ring with both. He doesn’t have a future opponent in mind and will go on whatever path his team sets him on.

Inoue and Nakatani are scheduled to fight next Saturday, December 27, on the Ring V: Night of the Samurai card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Naoya is facing Alan Picasso in the main event, while Junto is facing Sebastian Hernandez in the co-main.

If they win their respective matches, they’re expected to fight each other in May of 2026. Out of respect to both fighters, Cardenas is unwilling to compare or provide an assessment on what a potential match between Inoue and Nakatani would look like. It’s a war that the boxing world is holding its breath to see.