Inoue Vs. Nery Will Take Place In May
Naoya Inoue will face his WBC mandatory Luis Nery in a first defense of his undisputed super bantamweight title in May.
The fight will take place in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue secured a stoppage win over Marlon Tapales in the tenth round last month to become undisputed in a second weight class after his feat at bantamweight. He put himself alongside Terence Crawford, the only other man to have become a two-weight undisputed champion in the four-belt era. The attention turned towards Inoue’s next fight. Before the win, he ruled out a move up to featherweight. The intention was to fight three times at 122 pounds before considering featherweight.
“I wish to unify all the four world title belts within this year (against WBA and IBF titleholder Marlon Tapales). It may take three years to have myself physically adjust to the 122-pound weight class, and then I may move up to the featherweight division. After taking a rest for a week, I wish to return to gym work,” Inoue stated
Naoya Inoue and Luis Nery have agreed to a deal for a May fight in Tokyo for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship, sources told ESPN. Nery is banned for life from fighting in Japan for missing weight and a doping violation, but it’s not expected to be an issue. pic.twitter.com/P7wgsBRhmC
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 9, 2024
Nery has a record of 35-1, with 27 knockouts. He was banned from fighting in Japan after missing weight for his rematch with Shinsuke Yamanaka in 2018. Just a year before, he tested positive for Zilpaterol in their first fight. It is claimed the Japanese Boxing Commission will remove the ban to allow the fight.
Reaction
Give Inoue Credit, the man is staying active
— Jose (@Jose65151733) January 9, 2024
So the Japanese commission are gonna give him this one pass?
— theOne (@thatboyvince_1) January 9, 2024
Inoue gon sleep him for Japan
— AWUREDO (@AOUREDOO) January 9, 2024