While Naoya Inoue, A.K.A. “The Monster”, didn’t swallow Marlon Tapales whole on Tuesday, the Japanese star did cut him up into bit-sized chunks en route to a 10th-round stoppage at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Tapales was decked twice in the bout and worn to a frazzle.
Now armed with the undisputed super bantamweight championship, the great Inoue made it clear that he would remain at 122 pounds for the foreseeable future. Who’s next on the menu? It looks like former two-weight world champion Luis Nery might get the call.
Nery (34-1, 26 KOs) is a terrific southpaw boxer-puncher from Mexico. Known as “The Panther”, the 29-year-old has scored signature wins over Shinsuke Yamanaka (twice), McJoe Arroyo, Juan Carlos Payano and Azat Hovhannisyan in a 2023 Fight of the Year contender.
His only loss came against world-rated Brandon Figueroa in May 2021. Since that time, Nery has won four fights in a row and he’s currently rated No.1 by the WBC.
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And there’s a backstory. As good as Nery is, a dark cloud hangs over the ex-champion. The two wins over Yamanaka were controversial for very different reasons.
Following the first encounter, which Nery won by shuddering fourth-round stoppage in August 2017, it emerged that the Mexican fighter had tested positive for the banned substance zilpaterol. This substance can be used to boost fat loss and increase muscle mass.
When these details emerged, Nery was stripped of his newly acquired Ring Magazine championship immediately. However, the WBC launched an independent investigation and sided with the Tijuana-born fighter, who insisted that he’d eaten contaminated beef. Consequently, Nery held onto the WBC title, and a Yamanaka rematch was scheduled for March 2018.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, Nery came in three pounds over the bantamweight limit for fight two. The WBC stripped the Mexican star and the title was on the line for Yamanaka only.
While the beloved Japanese fighter could have pulled out of the bout, he didn’t want to let his fans or his country down. Unfortunately, his courage went unrewarded and he succumbed to a vicious second-round stoppage defeat.
The Japanese commission was so incensed by Nery’s conduct across both fights that they banned him from competing in the country for life.
And things didn’t end there. In November 2019, Nery was scheduled to face Emmanuel Rodriguez in a bantamweight title eliminator. Again, Nery failed to make weight, coming in a pound over the limit and refusing to take off the excess. Meanwhile, Rodriguez refused the financial offer to proceed and the fight was called off at the eleventh hour.
Inoue, the unified bantamweight champion at the time, took to social media and stated that Nery should be “exiled” from boxing.
Well, that hasn’t happened and Nery is looking to settle matters in the ring. Following his win over “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan in February, the Mexican puncher offered his thoughts on Inoue.
“He’s not a monster,” Nery told a phalanx of reporters, via BoxingScene. “He’s a little monster. I’m the real monster of 122.”
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Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is destructive enough without baring a grudge and history shows that it’s unwise to provoke him. Before a 2019 bout against the aforementioned Emmanuel Rodriguez, a member of the Puerto Rican fighter’s team pushed Inoue’s father-trainer Shingo at a media workout.
While Inoue didn’t react at the time, he brought fury to the ring in Glasgow. Rodriguez, previously unbeaten and then the reigning IBF bantamweight champion, was annihilated in two rounds.
Inoue versus Nery, “The Monster” versus “The Panther”, is a fight that has everything. Two world-class punchers in a battle for the undisputed championship with more than a splash of hostility. What more could you ask for?