Luis Nery is Hell-Bent on Knocking Out Naoya Inoue
Luis “Pantera” Nery (35-1, 27 KOs) gets his opportunity to become a three-time champion when he faces undisputed 122-pound champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) on May 6 in Tokyo, Japan. Facing one of the elite fighters in the world, Nery believes he’s winning and will do it by stoppage.
Nery arrived in Tokyo on April 21. Upon arrival, the native of Tijuana, Mexico spoke to the Japanese boxing media. The WBC mandatory junior featherweight challenger said he’s gone through a five-month camp and is in excellent spirits.
PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE
Pantera is a despised man in Japan. The hard feelings go back many years. He tested positive for a banned substance after winning the WBC bantamweight title with a fourth-round stoppage victory over Shinsuke Yamanaka in August 2017. They re-matched in March 2018, with Nery winning by a second-round stoppage. But the Mexican showed poor professionalism by coming in three pounds over the 118-pound bantamweight limit.
The Japanese Boxing Commission was so outraged that they handed him an indefinite suspension. Nery’s suspension was lifted in February 2024 to license the matchup with Inoue. Given that backdrop, emotions will run high on fight night in front of an expected 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. But Nery seems unbothered.
He’s won his last four fights since the sole defeat of his career, a seventh-round stoppage loss to Brandon Figueroa in May 2021. Nery earned the fight with Inoue with a hard-fought eleventh-round knockout over Azat Hovhannisian in February 2023.
THE GREAT EQUALIZER?
Inoue is one of the elite boxers in the business and is a significant favorite by most boxing pundits. But Nery is not impressed. Pantera has wanted to fight the Japanese superstar for several years and wants to show that he’s not the fighter that many in the boxing community hold in such high praise.
(Translated from Japanese) “Naoya is a talented boxer with speed and power. But I don’t think he is number one in the pound for pound rankings . . . Though I respect him, I am not afraid of him. Rather, I am determined to knock him out.”
Nery can hurt anyone he puts his hands on, and Inoue has never faced anyone with the power of the fighter from Tijuana. Fighting on enemy lines, Nery believes it’s his time, and the TNT in his fist will be the deciding factor.
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