There’s no place like home for Ramon Cardenas.
Visiting unbeaten junior featherweight prospect Rafael Pedroza was dealt a harsh reality by the local favorite, who scored a stunning second-round knockout Friday evening at Boeing Center at Tech Port in his San Antonio hometown. Cardenas scored two knockdowns, the latter which produced the immediate ending at 1:13 of round two in their Showtime-televised ShoBox main event.
“I told you,” Cardenas said while he stared into the camera after by far his biggest win to date. “I’m ready for anyone. Bring them all on.”
An early sign of things to come saw Cardenas force the action, convinced that his undefeated opponent carried a padded record and was in over his head. Pedroza seemed a bit out of sorts in the opening round of his first career fight outside of Panama and never had a chance to establish his rhythm.
Cardenas put an end to any chance of that one round later.
A perfectly timed left hook caught Pedroza flush and sent him to the canvas. The shot seemed to be more of a surprise than a damaging blow but Pedroza never had a chance to recover. Cardenas followed suit with another left hook over the top mere seconds later. Referee Rafael Ramos decided that Pedroza (15-1, 11KOs) was done for the night.
The first loss of Pedroza’s career also marked his earliest night at the office since his fourth pro fight.
Cardenas sailed to 23-1 (11KOs) as he picked up his eleventh consecutive victory. He is now a perfect 9-0 at home, with Friday’s win marking his third straight fight in San Antonio. His previously biggest win came fourteen months ago in this city, when he outpointed Michell Banquez over ten rounds last July 9 at the famed Alamodome,
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox