Naoya Inoue vs Luis Nery Preview May 6th, 2024
Undisputed and unbeaten Super Bantamweight Champion Naoya Inoue defends his belts against former WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Luis Nery of Mexico this Monday, May 6th. The 12-round contest from the Tokyo Dome in Inoue’s homeland of Japan can be seen live on ESPN+ in America with the card starting about 4 am EST. Fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports Action at 9 am. Inoue last fought in December when he stopped Marlon Tapales in the 10th round for the WBA and IBF Belts. Inoue, the former Undisputed Bantamweight King halted Stephen Fulton in the eighth round five months earlier to take his WBO and WBC titles. Nery’s last bout was in July when he stopped Froilan Saludar in the second round.
Inoue vs Nery Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Luis Nery +800
- Naoya Inoue -1500
My Pick
The 31-year-old Inoue is just the second male Japanese boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions to join Kazuto Ioka in that feat. Inoue was also a world beltholder at 108, 115 and 118 lbs and has been an undisputed champion in two different divisions. As a bantamweight, Inoue fought in the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight Tournament and won the IBF belt when he stopped Emmanuel Rodriguez in the second round in May, 2019.
Six months later, he beat Nonito Donaire by unanimous decision in a classic battle to capture the tournament as well as Donaire’s WBA Super World Belt. Inoue had originally won the regular WBA title in May, 2018 when he stopped Jamie McDonnell in 112 seconds. After beating Donaire, Inoue defended the belts against Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmarinas and Aran Dipaen with stoppages in the seventh, eighth and third rounds respectively.
Inoue and Donaire met in a long-awaited rematch in June, 2022 with Inoue adding the WBC Bantamweight Title to his collection when he stopped the Filipino Flash in the second round. He then became undisputed with an 11th-round stoppage of Paul Butler in December, 2022. He enters the bring this Monday with a perfect mark of 26-0 with 23 Ko’s. Inoue is also a former WBO Jr. Bantamweight and WBC Junior Flyweight Titleholder who has all the tools to be considered one of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers.
He defended his Junior Bantamweight Crown seven times before moving up in weight. The Japanese star became a world champion in just his sixth pro fight when he stopped Adrian Hernandez in the sixth round for his WBC Junior Flyweight Belt in May, 2014. He defended it once then moved up to super flyweight and took the title from Omar Narvaez by second-round KO in December, 2014. Known as ‘The Monster,’ Inoue has been a sensation in his homeland since turning pro in 2012 and has boxed 156 rounds since.
He’s definitely got some dynamite in his fists with an 88.5 per cent knockout ratio but also has fine boxing skills. Inoue has stopped his last seven opponents and has gone the distance just once since mid-2016 and that was the first fight against Donaire in 2019, but he did drop him in the 11th round. Inoue stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 67.5-inch reach.
Before turning pro Inoue enjoyed a fine amateur career and is now 21-0 with 18 Ko’s in world title fights. He’s also beaten the likes of Juan Carlos Payano, Ryoichi Taguchi, Kohei Kono, Antonio Nieves, David Carmona and Ricardo Rodriguez. He’s also 11-0 with 9 Kos against current or former world champions in Tapales, Fulton, Butler, Donaire, Rodriguez, Taguchi, Hernandez, Narvaez, Kono, McDonnell and Payano.
Nery is a 29-year-old southpaw who has an impressive mark of 35-1 with 27 Ko’s and has boxed 175 rounds since making his pro debut in 2012. He stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 65-inch reach, so gives up 2.5-inches in reach to Inoue, and also possesses above-average power in his fists as 77.1 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s won his last three fights by knockout after going three contests without one. Nery is fan-friendly boxer who throws punches in bunches and also owns a pretty solid chin.
He won the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight Title in September, 2020 via a unanimous decision over Aaron Alameda but was stopped in his first defence by Brandon Figueroa in the seventh round for his lone pro loss. Nery has also captured the vacant WBC Continental Americas Bantamweight Title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Martin Casillas in 2016 and the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight Title with a fourth-round stoppage over Raymond Tabugon in 2016 after being dropped in the first round. He stopped Shinsuke Yamanaka in the fourth round in 2017 to lift the WBC Bantamweight crown. Nery fought Yamanaka in a rematch in 2018 but came in overweight to lose the title.
However, he still managed to win the fight by second-round stoppage. He then won the vacant WBC Silver Bantamweight title again in October, 2018 with a third-round stoppage of Jason Canoy. He defended that belt with a ninth-round KO over Juan Carlos Payano in July, 2019 four months after stopping McJoe Arroyo after four rounds. Since losing to Figueroa he’s bounced back with a split decision win over Carlos Castro for the vacant WBC Silver and the WBO Intercontinental Super Bantamweight Titles, then stopped David Carmona in the third round before halting Azat Hovhannisyan in the 11th round and Saludar in the second in his last outing.
Prediction…
This is a good matchup as Nery is a hard-hitting and exciting boxer with just one pro defeat to his name. He has a pretty solid chin even though Brandon Figueroa stopped him, which actually came courtesy of a body shot. I’m sure that will be on Inoue’s mind on Monday night when he starts digging shots to Nery’s body. There’s no doubt Inoue has excellent power but he’s also a fine boxer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nery takes him into the second half of the fight though and maybe even last the distance. Inoue is a great body puncher who changes angles, speed and power when letting his hands go and I believe he’ll do enough to retain his titles on Monday but this could be a lot closer fight than the betting odds suggest.
Inoue is a fine boxer and has the power to end the contest with one punch.
Play Inoue -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Luis Nery betting • Naoya Inoue betting