Ramon Cardenas Edges Leonardo Carrillo on Points

Ramon Cardenas was forced to settle for a split-decision victory over Leonardo Carrillo at the Galen Center in Los Angeles after ten rounds, which produced one correct winner and one thoroughly mysterious scorecard.

Judges returned scores of 98-92 and 96-94 for Cardenas, while the third awarded Carrillo the contest 97-93. The dissenting verdict was difficult to reconcile with either the fight's pattern or the punch totals. Carrillo competed with discipline and landed his share of solid blows, but he did not win seven rounds.

Cardenas was returning to prominence in the super-bantamweight division after his memorable challenge against Naoya Inoue in May 2025, when he dropped the Japanese champion with a left hook before being stopped in the eighth. That performance enhanced his reputation even in defeat, but there was little of the same urgency against Carrillo.

The opening round was tentative, with both men landing only four punches. Cardenas used his jab but rarely followed it with anything substantial, while Carrillo concentrated on compact power shots when the favourite moved within range.

The cautious pattern continued through the second. Both landed seven punches, although Carrillo was marginally more accurate and connected with six power shots to Cardenas’s five. The Colombian appeared content to allow Cardenas to lead, hoping to counter rather than create openings himself.

Cardenas increased his activity in the third and began establishing the jab. He landed 14 punches to Carrillo’s nine and forced the Colombian to spend longer periods defending. It was not a dramatic transformation, but Cardenas was beginning to impose the greater work-rate.

The fourth was his most active round of the contest. He threw 78 punches and landed 18, including 15 power shots. Carrillo remained economical, attempting only 32 punches, and although he connected with reasonable accuracy, his lower output made it difficult to compete on the cards.

Cardenas continued setting the pace through the fifth and sixth. Carrillo largely abandoned his jab, throwing only five across those two rounds, and relied almost entirely on power punches. That approach gave him occasional success but allowed Cardenas to dictate the rhythm with the lead hand and then step close enough to work in combination.

No knockdowns came, and neither man appeared in danger. Carrillo was durable and technically capable, but far too reluctant to initiate. Cardenas, meanwhile, boxed within himself and lacked the aggression which had troubled Inoue. The result was a contest containing plenty of competent work but little sense of mounting drama.

By the seventh, the statistical gap had widened considerably. Cardenas landed 17 punches to Carrillo’s four and outscored him 12-4 in power shots. Carrillo’s waiting game had become almost entirely passive, while Cardenas gathered another round without being required to take substantial risks.

The eighth was more competitive. Carrillo landed nine of 30 punches and matched Cardenas in power connections, but the American’s jab remained the decisive difference. Cardenas landed 11 jabs in the round; Carrillo threw only one and failed to land it.

Cardenas maintained his advantage in the ninth, connecting with 17 punches to Carrillo’s eight. The Colombian continued searching for isolated counters, but by then he required sustained pressure rather than occasional accuracy.

The final round underlined the difference between them. Cardenas threw 70 punches and landed 20, while Carrillo managed seven connections from 49 attempts. Cardenas was not especially destructive, but he was busier, more varied and more effective.

The final figures were emphatic. Cardenas landed 148 of 623 punches, compared with Carrillo’s 72 from 335. He led 58-8 in jabs and 90-64 in power punches. Carrillo landed slightly more body shots, 19 to 17, but that was one of the few categories in which he finished ahead.

The 98-92 card most accurately reflected the contest. A score of 96-94 for Cardenas was charitable towards Carrillo but remained defensible if the opening rounds were viewed in his favour. Giving Carrillo seven rounds was another matter. Boxing judging has produced far greater outrages, but that is hardly a recommendation.

Cardenas improved to 28-2 with 15 stoppages, while Carrillo fell to 20-2-1. The winner remains a serious figure at 122lb, but this was not the sort of performance likely to hurry him towards another championship opportunity. Cardenas did enough and deserved the decision; he merely allowed one judge to create uncertainty where very little should have existed.

I thought Ramon Cardenas won comfortably enough, but it was a flat performance from a man who showed far more ambition when he dropped Naoya Inoue. Cardenas's 98-92 and 96-94 scores were understandable. The 97-93 card for Leonardo Carrillo was nonsense. I cannot find seven rounds for Carrillo without switching the names on the scorecard.

Cardenas started too cautiously and allowed Carrillo to settle into a negative counter-punching rhythm. Instead of shifting his feet, creating angles and bringing the hook behind the jab, he followed Carrillo and waited far too often. Once he increased his output from the third round onwards, the difference became obvious. His jab controlled the range, his combinations were more varied, and Carrillo did not throw enough to compete.

Carrillo’s entire approach was to wait for Cardenas to make a mistake. He landed some decent counters and worked the body, but there was no sustained pressure, no control of the centre and virtually no jab after the early rounds. You cannot surrender initiative for ten rounds and expect to win because you occasionally land the cleaner single shot.

Cardenas deserved the victory, but he did himself no favours. Against Inoue, he fought like a man with nothing to lose. Here, protecting his ranking, he boxed like a man frightened of misplacing it.

The right man won. One judge got it badly wrong, and Cardenas needs considerably more urgency next time.