LAS VEGAS — Naoya Inoue and Ramon Cardenas proved to be the perfect palette cleanse Sunday night.

It was desperately desired, and frankly, demanded.

The Monster descended into Sin City seemingly having to play the role of super hero, forced to save the sport on the biggest weekend of the year from yet another night of boring boxing.

The assignment was clear — don’t play with your food and deliver another dull dance; unleash detonating hands that demolish to avoid breaking punch-stats futility; demonstrate pulverizing power that is levels above everyone else; instead of running, run through the opponent.

After Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez Jr. failed to satisfy the insatiable appetites of fight fans on back-to-back nights, it was the cab-driver-turned-upset-minded-contender Cardenas who rose to the occasion and delivered one of the most valiant and surprising performances in recent memory, knocking down Inoue in the second round and going toe-to-toe with the 122-pound undisputed champion.

But the future Hall of Fame fighter Inoue admirably answered adversity with his warrior spirit to score a knockdown of his own and ultimately carved up and made mincemeat of Cardenas, serving 8,474 fans at the T-Mobile Arena a sizzling eight-round TKO win.

After Cardenas nearly found lightning in a bottle, an unusually drab and damp day in Las Vegas was suddenly rewarded with a white hot fight of the year frontrunner.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), a four-division champion and The Ring’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter, showed why he’s the most vicious and exhilarating knockout artist in the sport today by stopping the incredibly-brave Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) for his 11th straight stoppage win in his 25th consecutive title fight.

Referee Thomas Taylor waved off the action at the 45-second mark of the eighth round as momentum massively shifted in Inoue’s favor with a mounting and mostly one-sided offensive attack. The judges scored the fight exactly the same – 68-63 – giving Inoue every round except the second.

The Japanese icon Inoue, who came to America for his first true event after three previous stateside appearances, was a -10000 betting favorite according to BetMGM. He played with fire, and Cardenas almost did to Inoue what 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas did to Mike Tyson when Iron Mike travelled to Tokyo in 1990 to pull off the shocker of the century.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” said Inoue. “I was very surprised [at the knockdown] but I took things calmly and put myself together … The fans here were supportive and great. And I hope I was able to entertain them.”

Cardenas faded after a fiery start and couldn't find the fairytale, Cinderella-like finish he envisioned. And just like he did after he got dropped by Luis Nery last year in May in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome, the rocked and dropped Inoue rebounded from a nailbiter to notch the win.

“I never cared about losses. It’s about the best fighting the best," said Cardenas. “I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas. So I came to give everything.”

After a calm first round, the fight shockingly turned on its head in the final 15 seconds of the second round when Cardenas cracked Inoue with a devastating and picture-perfect overhand counter left, knocking down Inoue for the second time in his career.

Blood began to trickle from Inoue’s nose and he was saved by the bell.

“In the first round, I felt I had a good distance – it got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again,” said Inoue.

Cardenas, a 29-year-old Mexican-American from San Antonio, Texas, proved that fights are not won on paper, stood toe to toe with Inoue, and wildly and valiantly traded in the third, highlighted by a double right hand and a hard left hook.

Inoue made the WBA No. 1 rated Cardenas pay tremendously in the final minute of the fourth, however, turning it on with an onslaught as Cardenas recklessly swung and missed with timed left hooks. Inoue outlanded Cardenas 29 to 9 in the round while throwing 80 punches.

Inoue kept piling on the pressure in the fifth with his ferocious right hand, but Cardenas answered back in the final seconds of the frame with a thudding body shot, signaling that he still had a chance in the fight.

The sixth round featured an elite offensive attack from the shark-like Inoue in the final 90 seconds as he smelled blood and went for the finish. Cardenas sat on the ropes, smiled, and tried to bait him in with home run swings. But by this point, his bat was broken, and he was no longer pitching a perfect game he knew he needed. Inoue pulverized Cardenas with 48 of 90 (33 power) shots in the round while Cardenas mustered with just 14 of his own.

As the second wave of the war broke out, chants of “Mex-i-co” on the Cinco De Mayo Weekend showdown were drowned out by chants of “In-o-ue.”

Inoue looked for the stoppage in the seventh and nearly got it when he knocked down Cardenas after several unanswered shots in the final 30 seconds.

Cardenas slumped and fell in the corner but got up and told Taylor, "I'm good" as the bell sounded.

He wasn’t.

In the opening minute of the eighth round, things were clearly not going well for the defenseless Cardenas, and a barrage of unanswered blows forced Taylor to step in and stop the action.

“I told my trainer [Joel Diaz] that if I’m going out, then I’m going to go out on my shield. That’s what I did,” said Cardenas. “I’m not sad. But I’m bummed."

Inoue landed 176 of 462 punches thrown in the firefight, while Cardenas connected with 80 of 290.

“Odds-wise, I knew it was far apart,” said Inoue. “But I knew he was tough. Boxing is not that easy.”

After making his recent fights look simple, Inoue will now move on to face Murodjon Akhmadaliev on September 14 in Tokyo, and perhaps against WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball in December during a Riyadh Season show. A much-anticipated matchup against knockout artist countryman and The Ring’s No. 8 rated P4P fighter Junto Nakatani will likely follow after that.

Following the fissures and cracks he showed against Cardenas, the 32-year-old Inoue’s chances across his carefully planned future can be questioned moving forward anytime he faces credible competition.

The Monster survived a serious scare – for now.

But Murderers' Row awaits.