Boxing superstar Naoya Inoue will be the first Japanese national to defend an undisputed championship in over half a century when he puts his super bantamweight titles on the line against Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome on May 6.
Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) previously held the undisputed bantamweight championship but immediately moved up in weight after consolidating the belts. The last Japanese fighter to make a defense of an undisputed title was Koichi Wajima, who twice held the super welterweight crown in the early and mid-1970s.
WATCH: Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery, exclusively on ESPN+
Nery (36-1, 27 KOs) is arguably the most dangerous challenge available for Inoue at 122 pounds. The Mexican southpaw is a two-weight world champion and he’s been mixing with world-class opposition for years. His February 2023 win over Azat Hovhannisyan was recognized as The Ring Magazine Fight of the Year.
The Sporting News provides odds and a final prediction for this potentially explosive encounter in Japan.
Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery betting odds
Per BetMGM, Inoue is the -1000 favorite while Nery is the +600 underdog. The draw is +2500.
Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery trends
There are no betting trends available for this fight at the moment. The Sporting News will update this section when the information becomes available.
- Inoue via KO/ TKO/ Tech. Dec/ DQ: N/A
- Inoue via decision: N/A
- Nery via KO/TKO/Tech. Dec/ DQ: N/A
- Nery via decision: N/A
MORE: How to bet on combat sports
Naoya Inoue vs. Luis Nery prediction, best bets
Both men carry state-of-the-art firepower and neither one believes in doing overtime. A distance fight therefore looks unlikely.
Pound for pound, Inoue is arguably the hardest puncher in the world today, which is evidenced by an 88-percent knockout ratio. Every punch the Japanese powerhouse throws has gunpowder on it and he’s as lethal on the outside as he is up close.
Nery has a 77-percent knockout ratio. The Mexican fighter doesn’t have Inoue’s one-punch power, but he can do serious damage with combinations and he’s very aggressive. Between July 2016 and July 2019, Nery put together an 11-fight knockout streak.
As Inoue has come up through the weights, it’s taken him longer to take opponents out than it did in the lighter divisions. However, he gets there in the end. In fully unifying the super bantamweight division, “The Monster” halted both Stephen Fulton (TKO 8) and Marlon Tapales (KO 11) in 2023.
In Nery’s only professional defeat, in 2021, Brandon Figueroa stopped him in seven rounds. Figueroa is naturally bigger than Inoue but doesn’t have the same concussive hitting power. That doesn’t bode well for Nery, who will be lucky to reach the midway point against boxing’s most ruthless finisher.