And the fact he’s on them too would’ve made it a better fight
The Monster finishes this one early
5/6/24 ESPN+: Naoya Monster Inoue vs Luis Nery (Undisputed Super Bantamweight Championship)
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- Start date
The Monster finishes this one early
Luis Nery, a well-regarded former WBC bantamweight and junior featherweight titlist, is philosophical about his position as a significant underdog going into his shot at undisputed junior featherweight champion “The Monster” Naoya Inoue, who is widely viewed as no worse than No. 2 on the pound-for-pound list. He drew on history when talking about his long odds of dethroning the Japanese superstar when they meet on Monday in the main event of an Ohashi Promotions card that features four world title fights at the Tokyo Dome, where a sold-out of crowd of some 50,000 is expected. The card will stream on ESPN+ in United States and on Sky Sports in United Kingdom beginning at 4 a.m. ET with main event ring walks at approximately 7:35 a.m. ET. “This is an important fight,” Mexico’s Nery said through an interpreter. “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.” Tyson, of course, was the undefeated and seemingly unbeatable undisputed heavyweight champion when he met his Waterloo at the Tokyo Dome in February 1990 as massive 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas shockingly knocked him out in the 10th round to win the title in the biggest upset in boxing history. There has not been another fight at the venue since and Nery is aiming to repeat history. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Inoue’s co-promoter, also seized on the historic nature of Douglas-Tyson at the fight week news conference. “This is, I think, the greatest, most important boxing event in the history of Japan. After so many years since Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas fought at the Tokyo Dome, boxing is back at that famous, huge stadium in Tokyo for this event,” Arum said. “The challenger, Nery, is a familiar face here in Japan, and he is one of the best fighters in the lighter weight divisions in the world. Like all Mexican fighters, he is a warrior who will come here Monday night to do his best to emerge victorious in the fight.” But Arum also put Inoue’s position in boxing in perspective and wasn’t even overselling it. “’Monster' Inoue is now a legend in the sport of boxing,” Arum said. “He is recognized in the sport, all over the world, as pound-for-pound the No. 1 fighter. And so boxing fans, not only here in Japan, but all over the world, will be watching this event to see ‘The Monster’ perform because he is always Mr. Excitement.” Nery (35-1, 27 KOs), 29, a southpaw, who earned the WBC mandatory title shot against Inoue based his 11th-round knockout in a final eliminator against Azat Hovhannisyan 15 months ago in an epic battle that was the 2023 Fight Freaks Unite fight of the year, appears to be the ideal foil for Inoue as he is already notorious in Japan and something of enemy No. 1 there to boxing fans. He was stripped of the WBC bantamweight title for missing weight — something taken extremely seriously in Japan — for a rematch with Shinsuke Yamanaka, which Nery won by second-round knockout in March 2018. Nery won the title in their first encounter in August 2017, when he knocked out Yamanaka in the fourth round but failed a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association-administered drug test as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program in a sample provided before the fight but whose results were not known until after the bout. Nery claimed the positive test was from tainted beef in Mexico — a common problem there — and after investigating the matter, the WBC issued a ruling in which it said that it believed that the positive test result was indeed a result of food contamination. While the WBC did not strip Nery of the title it ordered him to give Yamanaka a rematch. After the rematch, the Japanese Boxing Commission issued Nery a lifetime ban in Japan, which after heavy politicking was lifted to make the fight with Inoue possible. “I’ve been wanting to fight (Inoue) for about three years now,” Nery said. “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.”
Nery is facing a historic figure in Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), 31, who is a four-division champion, one of only two men along with Terence Crawford to claim four-belt undisputed titles in two divisions, and the 2023 consensus fighter of the year. But Nery is clearly not concerned with Inoue’s accolades. “I think that Inoue shouldn’t have taken this fight,” Nery said. “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. “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.” The undercardThere are also three more world title bouts on one of the biggest cards Japan has seen in years.
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putting money on him winning by KO
King Harlem
Superstar
What a nice span of matches to be a boxing fan.
Inoue is probably my favorite boxer to watch right now.
Inoue is probably my favorite boxer to watch right now.
When is the main event?
Luis Nery, a well-regarded former WBC bantamweight and junior featherweight titlist, is philosophical about his position as a significant underdog going into his shot at undisputed junior featherweight champion “The Monster” Naoya Inoue, who is widely viewed as no worse than No. 2 on the pound-for-pound list.
He drew on history when talking about his long odds of dethroning the Japanese superstar when they meet on Monday in the main event of an Ohashi Promotions card that features four world title fights at the Tokyo Dome, where a sold-out of crowd of some 50,000 is expected.
The card will stream on ESPN+ in United States and on Sky Sports in United Kingdom beginning at 4 a.m. ET with main event ring walks at approximately 7:35 a.m. ET.
“This is an important fight,” Mexico’s Nery said through an interpreter. “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.”
Tyson, of course, was the undefeated and seemingly unbeatable undisputed heavyweight champion when he met his Waterloo at the Tokyo Dome in February 1990 as massive 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas shockingly knocked him out in the 10th round to win the title in the biggest upset in boxing history.
There has not been another fight at the venue since and Nery is aiming to repeat history.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Inoue’s co-promoter, also seized on the historic nature of Douglas-Tyson at the fight week news conference.
“This is, I think, the greatest, most important boxing event in the history of Japan. After so many years since Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas fought at the Tokyo Dome, boxing is back at that famous, huge stadium in Tokyo for this event,” Arum said. “The challenger, Nery, is a familiar face here in Japan, and he is one of the best fighters in the lighter weight divisions in the world. Like all Mexican fighters, he is a warrior who will come here Monday night to do his best to emerge victorious in the fight.”
But Arum also put Inoue’s position in boxing in perspective and wasn’t even overselling it.
“’Monster' Inoue is now a legend in the sport of boxing,” Arum said. “He is recognized in the sport, all over the world, as pound-for-pound the No. 1 fighter. And so boxing fans, not only here in Japan, but all over the world, will be watching this event to see ‘The Monster’ perform because he is always Mr. Excitement.”
Nery (35-1, 27 KOs), 29, a southpaw, who earned the WBC mandatory title shot against Inoue based his 11th-round knockout in a final eliminator against Azat Hovhannisyan 15 months ago in an epic battle that was the 2023 Fight Freaks Unite fight of the year, appears to be the ideal foil for Inoue as he is already notorious in Japan and something of enemy No. 1 there to boxing fans.
He was stripped of the WBC bantamweight title for missing weight — something taken extremely seriously in Japan — for a rematch with Shinsuke Yamanaka, which Nery won by second-round knockout in March 2018. Nery won the title in their first encounter in August 2017, when he knocked out Yamanaka in the fourth round but failed a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association-administered drug test as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program in a sample provided before the fight but whose results were not known until after the bout.
Nery claimed the positive test was from tainted beef in Mexico — a common problem there — and after investigating the matter, the WBC issued a ruling in which it said that it believed that the positive test result was indeed a result of food contamination. While the WBC did not strip Nery of the title it ordered him to give Yamanaka a rematch.
After the rematch, the Japanese Boxing Commission issued Nery a lifetime ban in Japan, which after heavy politicking was lifted to make the fight with Inoue possible.
“I’ve been wanting to fight (Inoue) for about three years now,” Nery said. “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.”Inoue will be making his second 122-pound title defense and first of the undisputed crown. In his last fight, on Dec. 26, he knocked out Marlon Tapales in the 10th round of a hard-fought but one-sided bout to retain the WBC and WBO belts for the first time and win the IBF and WBA 122-pound titles to become the first-ever undisputed 122-pound champion of the three- or four-belt era.
Nery is facing a historic figure in Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), 31, who is a four-division champion, one of only two men along with Terence Crawford to claim four-belt undisputed titles in two divisions, and the 2023 consensus fighter of the year. But Nery is clearly not concerned with Inoue’s accolades.
“I think that Inoue shouldn’t have taken this fight,” Nery said. “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.
“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.”
The undercard
There are also three more world title bouts on one of the biggest cards Japan has seen in years.
- Australia’s Jason Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs), 33, will make his second WBO bantamweight title defense against former kickboxing champion Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs), 27, a Japanese southpaw. Approximate ring walk time: 6:25 a.m. ET
- Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), Naoya’s brother, 28, will defend the WBA bantamweight title for the second time against Japanese countryman and mandatory challenger Sho Ishida (34-3, 17 KOs), 32, who lost a decision to then-junior bantamweight titlist Kal Yafai in Cardiff, Wales, in 2017 in his only other world title bout. Approximate ring walk time: 5:20 a.m. ET
- WBA flyweight titlist Seigo Yuri Akui (19-2-1, 11 KOs), 28, of Japan, will make his first defense in a rematch against Japanese countryman Taku Kuwahara (13-1, 8 KOs), 29. Akui stopped Kuwahara in the 10th and final round of a Japanese flyweight title fight in 2021. Approximate ring walk time: 4:10 a.m. ET
Saw this on goal.com:
aoya Inoue and Luis Nery will fight on Monday, May 6, at Tokyo Dome in the Bunkyo special ward of Tokyo, Japan.
The undercard is expected to begin at 04:00 ET, with the ringwalk for the pair’s clash anticipated at 06:00 ET.
- Date: Monday, May 6
- Time: 4 a.m. ET
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 6 a.m. ET
UncleTomFord15
Veteran
Tokyo dome is nuts
Now you see why he doesn't need to fight in America.
Just woke up...about to make my way to my kitchen...get that coffee before I turn on espn+
DallasTxRep
Superstar
Monster by annihilation
What is that like 50k capacity? lol nikkas sayin why dont he fight here... He a superstar over there, arguably the top P4P and A side financially over anyone near his weight. Who in the west 118-126 got the juice like that? Fulton not Floyd lol It not like LW and other weights where the big stars are from the western world and okay they gotta come there to prove it and draw crowds. Nah Inoue dictate shyt at that weight and where.
