Last seen becoming the very first man to knock down Naoya Inoue, this in a failed bid to snatch the unified super-bantamweight titles from “The Monster” last May, Luis Nery, 35-2(27) will face another Japanese fighter later this month in his return to the ring. And at the face-off ahead of his Feb. 22 fight with Kyonosuke Kameda, Nery let loose with some pre-fight punches as things got heated.
The two men came together, and Nery clearly wound up over something and pushed his upcoming dance partner away before he slung out a left and a right. Kameda beckoned Nery in for more, but security guys stepped in to prevent the incident from escalating further. Both Nery and Kameda looked to be genuinely angry, not merely trying to ramp up some hype and interest in the fight that will take place in Nery’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.
Who knows, maybe this fight, one that has gone somewhat under the radar, could prove to be pretty lively when the legal action gets underway. Nery, though, is the favorite to win. 26-year-old Kameda is the taller man, however, and in compiling his 15-3-2(9) pro record, Kameda has been stopped just once. The man from Osaka has won his last five, with all these fights taking place in Japan. Kameda last boxed in December so he should be sharp against Nery.
How much that ultimately painful KO loss at the hands of Inoue took out of 30-year-old southpaw Nery, we do not know, but again, most fans do have him as a pretty solid favourite over Kameda. But the bad blood seems to be real here and maybe things could prove memorable when the fight goes down. It will be interesting to see where Nery goes next should he get through Kameda. Has Nery, a former WBC champ at 122 pounds, got what it takes to become a two-time champion? Perhaps, but only if “Monster” Inoue vacates either of the four super-bantamweight belts he currently holds.
