Luis Esteban Nery Hernández (born December 12, 1994) is a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is a two weight world champion, having held the WBC and ''

Ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

'' magazine

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

titles between 2017 and 2018, and the WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...

title from 2020 to 2021. Nicknamed "Pantera", Nery is known for his exceptional punching power, possessing a knockout ratio of 77.77%.

Professional career

Early career

Nery was born and fights out of Tijuana. He only fought 9 amateur bouts, winning all of them. Five of them ended by way of knockout. Nery made his professional debut in May 2012 at the age of 17. Nery won his first 18 fights before challenging for the vacant WBC Continental bantamweight title against Martín Casillas. Casillas was knocked down twice during the fight as Nery took a unanimous decision (100-88, 99–89, 98–90). Nery's one defense of that regional title came against former interim

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from A ...

world champion David Sánchez. After an early head clash that threatened to stop the fight, Nery dominated Sánchez landing a series of power punches that broke Sánchez down. The former interim titlist was knocked down in the 5th round and retired on the stool. In December 2016, Nery was knocked down for the first time in his pro career in the first round of a bout against Raymond Tabugon. Despite the knockdown, the fight was mostly one-sided as Nery battered Tabugon until the referee stopped it in the fourth round.

WBC and Ring bantamweight champion

Nery vs. Yamanaka

Although Nery spoke of challenging for a

title, his first shot at a world title would come against WBC and ''The Ring'' bantamweight champion

Shinsuke Yamanaka is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 2011 to 2017, a reign where he made twelve successful defences and a reign which is the fourth longest in boxing's bantamweight div ...

on August 15, 2017, which he won with a sensational fourth-round stoppage. The bout started with both fighters trading back and forth combinations, but at the start of the fourth round Nery rocked Yamanaka with a left cross. After a brief respite in which Yamanaka seemed to regain control, Nery continued pummeling the defending champion, who was unable to defend himself. Yamanaka's corner eventually rushed into the ring to protect their fighter, giving Nery the win. The fight was seen by an audience of over 7 million in Japan. On August 24, it was reported that Nery tested positive for

zilpaterol Zilpaterol is a synthetic β2 adrenergic agonist. Under its brand name, Zilmax, it is used to increase the size of cattle and the efficiency of feeding them. Zilmax is produced by Intervet, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., and marketed as a "beef-i ...

, a banned substance. The sample that tested positive was taken on July 27, while three samples that were taken in August tested negative. Nery claimed he had failed the drug test due to food contamination. After Nery's B-sample confirmed the result, The Ring reinstated Yamanaka as their bantamweight champion. With the WBC yet to make a public ruling, it was announced Nery would be facing Arthur Villanueva in a non-title bout in his hometown, Tijuana, at Estadio Gasmart on November. In front of a crowd of 16,000, Nery defeated Villanueva with a round 6 TKO, despite being knocked down in round 4. Villanueva claimed that the stoppage was "premature". On October 31, the WBC made its final ruling on Nery's positive test. The sanctioning body concluded that the positive test was due to contaminated food. Consequently, the result of the Yamanaka-Nery title bout wouldn't be overturned but the WBC ordered a rematch, which was eventually scheduled for March.

Nery vs. Yamanaka II

Nery was once again successful in the rematch, claiming victory with a second-round TKO. From the outset, Yamanaka attempted to box more conservatively from the outside and had some success in this regard. Nery, however, fired back with a series of savage combinations which visibly hurt Yamanaka, before knocking him down with an overhand left. The following round was more of the same as Nery stalked and attacked continually, knocking Yamanaka down a total of three times before the fight was waved off. Ultimately, as Nery weighed in three pounds over the bantamweight limit at 121lbs, the WBC bantamweight title was only at stake for Yamanaka and subsequently became vacant.

Nery vs Arroyo

On 16 March, 2019, Nery battled former IBF super flyweight champion

McJoe Arroyo McJoe Arroyo Acevedo (born December 5, 1985) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who held the IBF junior bantamweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico in international competition, winning a bronze medal a ...

. Nery dropped Arroyo once in the second and third round, and twice in the fourth round. After the end of the fourth round, Arroyo's corner informed the referee to stop the fight. Nery won the bout via 4th round retirement.

Nery vs. Payano

On July 20, 2019, Nery fought former WBA bantamweight champion Juan Carlos Payano. Nery had his own way for most of the fight, landing the cleaner shots throughout the fight. In the ninth round, a perfectly placed left hook to the body by Nery send Payano to the canvas. Writhing in pain, Payano was not even able to attempt to beat the count, leading to a ninth-round KO win for Nery.

WBC super bantamweight champion

Nery vs. Alameda

On September 26, 2020, Nery faced Aaron Alameda for the vacant WBC super bantamweight title. Alameda was ranked #6 by the WBC at the time. Nery won the fight via unanimous decision, winning on all three scorecards, 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113.

Nery vs. Figueroa

In his next fight, Nery fought WBA regular super bantamweight champion Brandon Figueroa in a unification bout. Nery was seen as a favorite to beat Figueroa, with opening odds seeing Nery as a -400 favorite and Figueroa at +275, although the line later saw Nery drop to -225 and Figueroa rise to +175. Nery started bright and was dominating the fight, but Figueroa managed to drop Nery in the seventh round. As Nery was getting up from the canvas, referee Thomas Taylor decided to wave the fight off, handing Nery the first defeat of his career.

Nery vs. Castro

In his next fight, Nery fought Carlos Castro, ranked #2 by the WBO, #3 by the WBC and IBF and #13 by the WBA at super bantamweight. Nery dropped Castro in the first round and boxed well in the rest of the fight to get a split-decision win over Castro, 96-93, 95-94 and 94-95 on the scorecards in his favor.

Super featherweight

Nery vs. Carmona

On October 1, 2022, Nery moved up to super featherweight for the first time to take on former super flyweight title challenger David Carmona. He won the fight by third round technical knockout.

WBC super bantamweight title eliminator

Nery vs. Hovhannisyan

On February 18, 2023, Nery fought WBA super bantamweight mandatory challenger Azat Hovhannisyan in a WBC super bantamweight title eliminator. In a very entertaining and competitive fight, Nery managed to win by eleventh round technical knockout. The fight was later voted The Ring Magazine's 2023 fight of the year.

Nery vs. Saludar

On July 8, 2023, Nery fought Froilan Saludar. He won the fight by second round technical knockout.

Undisputed super bantamweight title fight

Nery vs. Inoue

Nery was scheduled to challenge

Naoya Inoue is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, and is one of only three male boxers in history (along with Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk) to become the undisputed champion in two weigh ...

for the undisputed super bantamweight title on May 6, 2024 at

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

in Tokyo, Japan. Nery got dropped three times and lost the fight by sixth round knockout.

Featherweight

Nery vs. Kameda

On January 16th, 2025, it was reported that Nery would be moving up to the featherweight division to face Kyonosuke Kameda in Mexico on February 22nd, 2025. Nery won the fight by KO in the 7th round.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Luis Nery - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nery, Luis 1994 births Living people Mexican male boxers Boxers from Tijuana World Boxing Council champions World bantamweight boxing champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions The Ring (magazine) champions Southpaw boxers Doping cases in boxing 21st-century Mexican sportsmen