The upset trend continues. Earlier today in Japan, in a battle of undefeated southpaws, defending and long reigning WBC bantamweight king Shinsuke Yamanaka shockingly lost his title ultra-aggressive challenger Luis Nery of Mexico. Or, to put it another way, Nery shocked Yamanka; stopping him in the fourth round of an exciting, memorable battle.
Nery, just 22 years old, jumped all over the 34 year old champ who was attempting to defend his belt for the 13th time, hurting him and stopping him in the fourth round. A left hand stunned the defending champ, before a relentless assault got the stoppage near the end of the round, as a shell-shocked Yamanaka was saved by his corner, who threw in the white towel.
Nery is now 24-0(18). Yamanka, who appeared absolutely stunned by the loss, is now 27-1-2(19).
With Manny Pacquiao losing this year, and Zou Shiming also being derailed by a whopping great underdog, 2017 really has been the year of the upset. And there could be more shockers to come – (how stunned will we all be if Conor McGregor really does beat, even KO, Floyd Mayweather next week!?)
Nery, known as “Pantera,” will be in huge demand right now. Hailing from Tijuana and never previously having fought outside of his home country of Mexico, Nery crushed a quite formidable champion. A rematch is always a possibility, for a lot more money (on both sides), but for now, Nery joins the long, long list of Mexican world champions.
At age 22, Nery, a powerful, all-action warrior with an extremely fan-friendly style and approach, seems to have the world at his feet right now.
Yamanaka, who had reigned since 2011 and had beaten such top names as Vic Darchinyan, Christain Esquivel, Tomas Rojas and Anselmo Moreno (twice), really had a wakeup call today. Can the southpaw ex-champ come again, or is he done at age 34, having lost for the very first time at pro level?
Fans of the underdog/ outsider will have enjoyed today’s action, that’s for sure.
