By Dan Ambrose: Super bantamweight champions Brandon Figueroa and Luis Nery have agreed to a fight in the first quarter of 2021 on PBC. WBA World 122-lb champion Figueroa (21-0-1, 16 KOs) and WBC champ Nery (31-0, 24 KOs) will be meeting in a unification.
The winner of the Nery vs. Figueroa fight be in the position to go after the other champions at 122:
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev – IBF/WBA
- Rey Vargas
- Angelo Leo – WBO
Mike Coppinger broke the news of the Nery-Figueroa headlining on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox. Both champions are young, and both are all-action fighters that slug from the word go.
Nery, 25, recently captured the vacant WBC 122-lb title in defeating previously unbeaten Aaron Alameda by a 12 round unanimous decision on September 26th.
That was the first fight for Nery since moving up to 122-lb after holding the WBC bantamweight title off and on since 2017.
Nery didn’t look as devastating in his debut at 122 when he was campaigning at 118. But the power and the explosiveness are still there for the Mexican southpaw Figueroa.
It would be a good idea for Figueroa, 23, to protect himself at all times because Nery isn’t the type of guy that he can allow to hit him all night.
Figueroa is similar to his brother, Omar Figueroa. For the boxing fans that aren’t familiar with the former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa, he’s always been incredibly easy to hit. He’s always led with his face in his fights, but his nonstop punching ability has helped him carve out a successful career.
Brandon Figueroa is coming off of a 10th round knockout of Damien Vazquez on September 26th in a gimme title defense of his WBA secondary 122-lb title. That was Figueroa’s second defense of his WBA title, which the world Boxing Association gave him outside of the ring last year in October 2019.
Hopefully, Nery can make weight for the fight without any problems, as he’s struggled in recent years in that aspect.
It would be a disappointment if Nery failed to make the 122lb limit because he’s already moved up from 118lb because of weight issues.
If Nery starts struggling to make 122, he’ll need to move up to 126, and he could find it difficult to compete with the best in that division.
“Sources: Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa have agreed to a deal for a 122-pound title tilt slated for Q1 of 2021. Tremendous action fight for PBC. Two of the best at 122 pounds, and both fighters are 25 and under,” said @MikeCoppinger.