Naoya Inoue’s proper cheek quivered as he stared into Luis Nery’s soul.
Each fighters had been contained in the divisional restrict for his or her RING and undisputed 122-pound championship. Inoue was 121¾ kilos forward of his first protection as undisputed king and second general title protection on the weight. Tijuana’s Nery was effectively beneath the mark at 120.8 kilos in a bid to change into a two-time RING champion.
Their bout headlines a four-title battle present this Monday on ESPN+ and Amazon Prime-Japan from the Tokyo Dome. It marks the primary boxing occasion on the famed venue since Buster Douglas’ historic March 1990 upset of Mike Tyson.
For Nery (35-1, 27 knockouts), it’s an opportunity at redemption in a rustic the place he was beforehand banned to field. He badly blew weight forward of a March 2018 knockout win over Shinsuke Yamanaka at Kokugikan Area in Tokyo. The rematch got here seven months after Nery dethroned a then-unbeaten Yamanaka for the WBC and Ring crown in Kyoto.
Nery, No. 2 at 122, was issued an indefinite suspension, which was lifted earlier this 12 months.
There isn’t a query the overturned verdict got here as an effort to fulfill successful listing merchandise for the nation’s greatest fighter.
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), No. 2 pound-for-pound, was decided for Nery to be his first challenger of 2024. Talks had been underway even earlier than he defeated Marlon Tapales to totally unify the 122-pound division. The knockout win noticed Inoue change into Japan’s first-ever two-division undisputed champion, a feat he completed in simply 54 weeks.
The unbeaten 31-year-old from Yokohama beforehand held titles at 108, 115 and 118. He absolutely unified the bantamweight division by the tip of 2022 earlier than he moved up in weight to overcome junior featherweight.
Nery has received 4 straight, together with three consecutive stoppage victories. Included among the many bunch is his eleventh-round knockout of Azat Hovhannisyan final February. Their thriller was a prime runner-up for 2023 Struggle of the Yr.
Under are the weights for the opposite three title fights.
Jason Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs), New South Wales, Australia, 117 ¾ poundsYoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs), Yokohama, Japan, 117 ¾ pounds12 rounds, for Moloney’s WBO bantamweight title
Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), Yokohama, 117 ¾ poundsSho Ishida (34-3, 17 KOs), Osaka, Japan, 117 ¾ pounds12 rounds, for Inoue’s WBA bantamweight title
Seigo Yuri Akui (19-2-1, 11 KOs), Kurashiki, Japan, 111 ¾ poundsTaku Kuwahara (13-1, 8 KOs), Yokohama, 111 ¾ pounds12 rounds, for Akui’s WBA flyweight title
Jake Donovan a senior author for The Ring and vice chairman of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
Comply with @JakeNDaBox
