Luis Nery Wants To Pull A Ryan Garcia Type Shocking W, Too!

Luis Nery is another one who saw Ryan Garcia flip a script Saturday night and probably think to himself, I'm gonna do that too. It's a tall order for the Mexican. Naoya Inoue has looked more dominant against better foes than Devin Haney did on his way up. The undisputed junior featherweight world championship is at stake on Monday, May 6 at the Tokyo Dome.

“The Big Egg” in Japan hasn't featured boxing since February 1990, when James “Buster” Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in the 10th round and won an underdog special for the ages.

Inoue-Luis Nery plus three other world title showdowns will stream live on ESPN+ starting at 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT. Yes, 4 AM.

Luis Nery is 29. The Mexican southpaw has been in wars, and could this be the end of Inoue's wonderful run?

In the co-feature, Australia’s Jason “Mayhem” Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs) defends his WBO bantamweight world title against former kickboxing champion Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs).

Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), Naoya's younger brother, puts the WBA bantamweight crown on the line against former world title challenger Sho Ishida (34-3, 17 KOs). Also, Seigo Yuri Akui (19-2-1, 11 KOs) risks his WBA flyweight world title against Taku Kuwahara (13-1, 8 KOs) in a rematch of their 2021 scrap.

Nery (35-1, 27 KOs) won the WBC bantamweight world title by beating Shinsuke Yamanaka in August 2017, but lost it the following year after failing to make weight for their sequel.

From a Top Rank release: “Luis Nery moved up to junior featherweight, where he earned the WBC strap against Aaron Alameda in September 2020. The 29-year-old suffered his first loss in a unification showdown against WBA champ Brandon Figueroa in May 2021.

“Since that defeat, Nery has gone 4-0 with three knockouts, including a dramatic 11th-round stoppage of Azat Hovhannisyan last February in a Fight of the Year contender.”

Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a four-division world champion, coming off wins over Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales.

Luis Nery Talks From Training Camp in Texas

“This is the highest stage one can reach as a fighter. It’s like soccer players who prepare their entire lives for a World Cup. It’s the same. This is bigger than being a world champion. It’s four belts. It’s undisputed.”

“I’ve been wanting to fight him for about three years now. Fortunately, the opportunity has come, and we are taking it seriously. He is an elite fighter. He’s among the best fighters. He is fast. He is strong. But he has weaknesses, and he does take some punches.”

“I’m the only one who can beat Inoue because I have good power, I can take punches, I have heart, and I’m willing to die in the ring. I’m a fighter who, above all, is a brawler. I like to brawl in the ring. But, I like to counter as well. If the fight allows for it, and if the fighter and the style allow for it, then I do it. I adapt to whatever style of fight I’m in to get the victory,” said Luis Nery.

“I think that Inoue shouldn’t have taken this fight. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t have taken it. He has nothing to win by beating me. In fact, he has everything to lose. I have nothing to lose. I’m not a champion. I’m not at the top like him. I’m going for all the marbles. I'm coming with everything. I will take risks, and I'm willing to die in the ring.

“This is an important fight. It deserves to be in an arena that is just as important like the Tokyo Dome. And I think it’s a sign. If Mike Tyson can lose his unbeaten record there, then so can Naoya Inoue. Now, Mike Tyson was actually a monster. He for sure was an assassin. So, I’m happy that they made the fight at Tokyo Dome,” said Luis Nery.

“I will win by knockout. There’s no other way. I know that either he or I will be stopped. But I’m sure that he will be stopped.”