_1644219108.jpg)
Luis Nery has a new opponent for a stay-busy fight ahead of plans for another junior featherweight title run.
The former two-division titlist will now face countryman and three-time title challenger David Carmona this Saturday in Nery’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. The bout serves in supporting capacity on a show paying tribute to Jackie Nava (39-4-4, 16KOs), the former bantamweight and unified junior featherweight titlist who will face Argentina’s Gloria Elena Yancaqueo (10-11-3, 3KOs) in the final fight of her incredible 21-year pro career.
Nery was previously due to face Jesus Ruiz (45-9-5, 31KOs), who was pulled from the bout for unspecified reasons as previously revealed by ESPN Deportes’ Salvador ‘Chava’ Rodriguez.
Carmona (22-10-5, 9KOs) has lost his last two starts but was available to step in for this weekend’s show upon immediate request. The 31-year-old from Mexico City has fallen short in three separate junior bantamweight title bids, most notably in a May 2016 points loss to Naoya Inoue for the WBO 115-pound title. The bout marked the first time that Inoue was forced to go the distance in a title fight.
Carmona also lost to Omar Narvaez in a December 2013 title challenge and badly missed weight in an eventual seventh-round stoppage defeat to then-unbeaten WBA titlist Khalid Yafai in May 2018. The bout was his last at junior bantamweight, having since moved up to junior featherweight, though going just 1-3 in that time.
The fight will mark the second of 2022 for Nery (32-1, 24KOs) following his lone career defeat, a seventh-round stoppage to then-unbeaten Brandon Figueroa to end his WBC junior featherweight title reign last May. Saturday’s appearance at home is Nery’s first in Mexico in nearly four years, the previous occasion coming in a December 2018 seventh-round knockout of Renson Robles in Saltillo, Mexico.
Five straight stateside appearances have followed for the 27-year-old Nery, all under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner. In his most recent start, Nery scored a ten-round split decision win over then-unbeaten Carlos Castro on February 5 in Las Vegas.
With a win on Saturday, Nery remains convinced that he will next land a shot at unbeaten, unified WBC/WBO junior featherweight titlist Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8KOs). Both fight for PBC, and Nery is ranked number-one with the WBC and number-two with the WBO. Fulton does not currently have a fight publicly confirmed as this goes to publish.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox