By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC bantamweight champion Luis Nery (27-0, 21 KOs) will be taking a tune-up fight tonight against journeyman Renson Robles (13-5, 7 KOs) in a fight at super bantamweight at the Arena Pavillón del Norte, Saltillo. Nery vs. Robles will be televised on Azteca (Mexico) beIN Sports en Espanol (USA). This is the 23-year-old Nery’s second fight since he was stripped of his World Boxing Council title earlier this year in March when he came in three pounds over the bantamweight limit for his rematch against former WBC 118 lb champion Shinsuke Yamanaka.
Nery was suspended after that fight, which he won by a 2nd round knockout. Nery has since destroyed Jason Canoy Manigos by a 3rd round knockout last October in Tijuana, Mexico, and now he’s about to face another journeyman in 29-year-old Robles tonight.
Last Friday the highly talented Nery weighed in successfully at 122 lbs for the Robles fight. For his part, Robles weighed in at 121.5 lbs. What’s unclear is if Nery will be staying at super bantamweight or if he’ll be moving back down to bantamweight where he’s been having a tough time making weight. There’s a lot of opportunities for big fights for Nery if he can make the 118 lb weight limit for the bantamweight division. There are huge fights available for Nery against the likes of Naoya Inoue, Nonito Donaire, Zolani Tete, Ryan Burnett and Emmanuel Rodriguez. If Nery could fight the winner of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament, it would give him the chance to upstage the top guy in the 118 lb division right away once the smoke clears from that tourney.
If Nery chooses to stay at 122, he would be limited to fight these guys: Guillermo Rigondeaux, Rey Vargas, Daniel Roman, Terence TJ Doheny, Isaac Dogboe, Diego De La Hoya, Jessie Magdaleno, Cesar Juarez, Ryosuke Iwasa, Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Gavin McDonnell. The 122 lb weight class thus far isn’t receiving as much attention as the 118 lb class. The best fighters at super bantamweight are Rigondeaux, Dogboe, Magdaleno, Vargas and Akhmadaliev. Nery would be making a big statement if he could meat those guys in the division. Akhmadaliev is a new comer, and he looks like he could be a world champion soon. Dogboe is arguably the #1 guy at 122 and the one to beat. Nery needs to target that guy if he wants to get instant fame at super bantamweight.
Other weights on the card are as follows:
Irma García 118.6 vs. Isis Vargas 118.6
Israel Picazo 122.3 vs. Yonathan Padilla 122.3
Irving Turrubiates 127.8 vs. Julio César Guzmán 127.8
Argi Cortés 117.9 vs. Jesús Limones 116.8
Edwin Bahena 152 vs. Brandón Pérez 153.2