Prudencio Cardona made his professional boxing debut on November 2, 1973, defeating Luis Ramos by a four-round decision in Barranquilla, Colombia.
On September 29, 1974, Cardona fought away from Barranquilla for the first time, losing his tag as an undefeated fighter when he dropped an eight-round decision to Henry Diaz in Cartagena.
On June 15 of that year, Cardona made his Asian debut, losing to future world champion Seung-Hoon Lee by a ten-round decision in South Korea.
Cardona, however, won nine of his next ten fights by knockout, including victories over Hector Patri, Steve Whitstone and Olympic bronze medalist Orlando Maldonado of Puerto Rico.
[1] He lost the titles on his first defense, however, being defeated by two division world champion and another Mexican Freddie Castillo by a fifteen-round unanimous decision on July 24, also in Mexico.
Cardona won four of his next five bouts, the exception being a ten-round draw (tie), against Soon-Jung Kang on April 2, 1983, in South Korea.
Among those that beat him were various well-known fighters, such as Dominican Tommy Valoy, then a future world title challenger, by a knockout in six in San Juan, Puerto Rico, future world champion Jose Ruiz, who beat Cardona by a ninth-round knockout on July 11, 1988, also at San Juan, and Darryl Pinckney, who knocked Cardona out in four rounds on June 27, 1992.