Naoya Inoue and Luis Nery have reportedly agreed to a super-bantamweight championship clash
Undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23KO) and once-beaten contender Luis Nery (35-1, 27KO) have reportedly agreed to a championship clash in May, in Tokyo, Japan.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger was the first to break the story Tuesday afternoon, January 9th.
The 12-round bout will reportedly take place in Tokyo, Japan, near Inoue’s hometown of Yokohama.
Hideyuki Ohashi recently announced a plan for Inoue to fight three times during 2024, which included a fight against Nery.
They possess 50 KOs between them, so it could prove to be one of the most exciting fights, especially given the high-volume punch count they have each exhibited in the past.
'The Monster' from Jaan ended 2022 as the undisputed bantamweight champion after a one-sided beatdown over the rather unambitious and quiet Paul Butler from Liverpool. An 11th round KO meant that the Brit had to hand over his WBO belt which was the liest piece of the puzzle for Inoue to complete the division.
He immediately stepped up to super-bantam, in search of greatness, which he instantly achieved with an eighth-round stoppage of unbeaten Stephen Fulton in July 2023 to become a unified champion in a fourth weight category.
Then, on Boxing Day, he defeated the only other champion at 122lbs, Marlon Tapales, to become only the second male boxer in history to become undisputed in two weights, in a four-belt era.
Mexican southpaw, 'Pantera' Nery, 29, is a two-weight world champion, whose only loss came at the hands of Brandon Figueroa in 2021. The Tijuana native has since bounced back with four solid victories, beginninig with a tough matchup against undefeated 27-0 prospect Carlos Castro, ending via split decision over 10 rounds; then followed three consecutive knockouts.
His KO ratio stands at 77%, and with Inoue's at 88%, there's very little chance this high-octane, heavy-handed, all-action war will be going the distance!