The Monster Returns: Inoue vs. Nery Clash Confirmed for May

Image: The Monster Returns: Inoue vs. Nery Clash Confirmed for May
By Raj Parmar - 01/09/2024 - Comments

Naoya “The Monster” Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) will defend his undisputed super bantamweight championship against his WBC mandatory Luis ‘Pantera’ Nery (35-1, 27 KOs) in May in Tokyo, Japan.

ESPN has confirmed the Inoue vs. Nery fight will be taking place in May, with Naoya’s IBF, WBA, WBC & WBO 122-lb titles all on the line against the former two-division world champion.

Inoue: The Undisputed King

Fresh off of his tenth-round knockout victory over Marlon Tapales last December, ‘Monster’ Inoue will be making his first defense of his undisputed 122-lb championship against Nery, who was banned for life in Japan for coming in overweight and a doping violation for his clash in that country against their hero Shinsuke Yamanaka in March 2018 in a fight that he scored a second-round knockout.

According to Mike Coppinger, Nery will be reinstated, making it possible for him to fight Inoue in the country.

It’s believed that Inoue intends to defend his undisputed super bantamweight championship three times this year.

That’s surprising because it was thought that he would move up to 126 to go after the four belts in that weight class, but some believe that after the hard time Inoue had beating Tapales, he decided not to take the risk of doing up to featherweight and risk his neck against these champions:

  • Rey Vargas
  • Luis Lopez
  • Otabek Kholmatov vs. Raymond Ford winner
  • Rafael Espinoza

Nery: Unbeaten in Japan

‘Pantera’ Nery is 2-0 while fighting in Japan, having twice knocked out former WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka in front of his own fans in Tokyo in 2017 and 2018.

Those wins by Nery, the visiting fighter, rubbed the locals the wrong way, as they expected Shinsuke to do a number on him like he’d done his many other challengers for his belt.

If Nery destroys Inoue, too, hopefully, the Japanese fans at ringside don’t go ballistic at seeing Monster crushed by the Mexican fighter. Everyone knows Inoue is fighting on barrowed time and will eventually get beaten. Nery might be the one to do it.