Hometown super bantamweight Ramon “Dinamita” Cardenas (22-1, 11 KOs) faces undefeated Rafael Pedroza for the WBA Continental-Latin American title in the main event of a SHOBOX: The New Generation telecast on Friday from Boeing Center at Tech Point in San Antonio, Texas. Previously ranked as high as #5 by the WBA, Cardenas has won his last 10 bouts dating back to 2017.
“Everything is going well. I never really stop training, so I’ve just kept doing what I usually do, I’m just doing more of it. This guy (Pedroza) is undefeated, so he’ll fight like it. He’ll come a little stronger than other fighters and I’m totally prepared for that. I know he’ll be dangerous for the first few rounds, but then, my experience will take over in the later rounds.”
“I don’t really watch tapes on anybody because every fight is different. They fight you differently than they did somebody else, so that’s why I don’t normally watch tapes, but he tagged me in something on his Instagram and I looked at a short video of him. Everything he does, I do better. I don’t say that in a cocky way. Overall, I’m just the better fighter.”
“I’m super excited. People will finally see who I am, and the bigger fights will start coming my way. My career is finally coming around and now I plan to take full advantage of it. A lot of doors will open when I win this belt. I’ve always wanted to face better competition. I want to always be progressing, not regressing. I want to fight guys who are undefeated. That’s what I need. That will put my career on the front burner.”
“I put on a good show and a lot of people come to my fights. I’m going to be fighting for my second WBA belt. To win it in front of my family and fans and everybody will be so sweet. My first WBA belt, I won in Florida and there were only a few people there to celebrate with me. It’s going to be super sweet. I’m excited. It’s a dream come true. I’ve put in a lot of hard work. I never got much help coming up. I didn’t find a promoter when I turned pro. I had a couple offers but they weren’t good. I decided to do it on my own. I fought anywhere I could get a fight. It was all leading up to this. There’s nothing better than that.”
In the co-featured bout, hard-hitting undefeated Mirco Cuello (12-0, 11 KOs) will battle undefeated Rudy Garcia (13-0-1, 2 KOs). The telecast opener features undefeated KO artist Freudis Rojas (11-0, 11 KOs), meeting once-beaten Saul Bustos (15-1-1, 8 KOs) in an eight-round welterweight bout.