Luis Nery (boxer)


Luis Esteban Nery Hernández is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two weight world champion, having held the WBC and [The The Ring (magazine)|Ring (magazine)|Ring] magazine bantamweight titles between 2017 and 2018, and the WBC super bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021. Nicknamed "Pantera", Nery is known for his exceptional punching power, possessing a knockout ratio of 77.77%.
IG luisnerynp

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 by 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. Nery's one defense of that regional title came against former interim super flyweight 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.

Nery vs. Yamanaka

Although Nery spoke of challenging for a super flyweight title, his first shot at a world title would come against WBC and The Ring bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka 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, 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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Nery vs. Inoue

Nery was scheduled to challenge Naoya Inoue for the undisputed super bantamweight title on May 6, 2024 at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Nery scored a Knockdown in the first round, but was dropped 3 times over by Inoue and lost the fight via sixth round Knockout. At the time of stoppage Nery was behind on all 3 judges scorecards having lost every round except the first.

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.

Nery vs Saart

Nery's second fight at featherweight division came against Sathaporn Saart on October 26, 2025. Nery dropped Saart in the first round and dominated the entire fight, but an accidentally clashed of heads stopped the fight in the eighth round and Nery won the fight via technical decision.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
39Win37–2Sathaporn SaartTD8, 1:28Oct 26, 2025Bishkek Arena, Bishkek, KyrgyzstanUnanimous TD: Fight stopped after accidental headbutt
38Win36–2Kyonosuke KamedaTKO7, 2:23Feb 22, 2025Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico
37Loss35–2Naoya InoueKO6, 1:22May 6, 2024Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, JapanFor WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super bantamweight titles
36Win35–1Froilan SaludarTKO2, 0:41Jul 8, 2023Recinto Ferial Metepec, Metepec, Mexico
35Win34–1Azat HovhannisyanKO11, 1:51Feb 18, 2023Pomona Fox Theater, Pomona, California, U.S.
34Win33–1David CarmonaTKO3, 2:08Oct 1, 2022Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutiérrez Moreno, Tijuana, Mexico
33Win32–1Carlos CastroSD10Feb 5, 2022Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Won vacant WBC Silver and WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight titles
32Loss31–1Brandon FigueroaKO7, 2:18May 15, 2021Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California, U.S.Lost WBC super bantamweight title;
For WBA (Regular) super bantamweight title
31Win31–0Aarón AlamedaUD12Sep 26, 2020Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.Won vacant WBC super bantamweight title
30Win30–0Juan Carlos PayanoKO9, 1:43Jul 20, 2019MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Retained WBC Silver bantamweight title
29Win29−0McJoe ArroyoRTD4, 3:00Mar 16, 2019AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, U.S.
28Win28−0Renson RoblesTKO7, 1:16Dec 1, 2018Arena Pavillón del Norte, Saltillo, Mexico
27Win27−0Jason CanoyKO3, 2:44Oct 6, 2018Gasmart Stadium, Tijuana, MexicoWon vacant WBC Silver bantamweight title
26Win26–0Shinsuke YamanakaTKO2, 1:03Mar 1, 2018Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanWBC bantamweight title at stake only for Yamanaka after Nery missed weight
25Win25–0Arthur VillanuevaTKO6, 1:19Nov 4, 2017Estadio Gasmart, Tijuana, Mexico
24Win24–0Shinsuke YamanakaTKO4, 2:29Aug 15, 2017Shimadzu Arena, Kyoto, JapanWon WBC and The Ring bantamweight titles
23Win23–0Jesús MartínezRTD4, 3:00Mar 11, 2017Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico
22Win22–0Raymond TabugonTKO4, 2:42Dec 17, 2016El Foro Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MexicoWon vacant WBC Silver bantamweight title
21Win21–0Richie MepranumTKO2, 0:41Oct 22, 2016Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico
20Win20–0David SánchezRTD4, 3:00Jul 30, 2016Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, MexicoRetained WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title
19Win19–0Martín CasillasUD10Apr 16, 2016Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Mexico City, MexicoWon vacant WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title
18Win18–0Humberto MoralesTKO5, 0:17Jan 30, 2016Centro de Convenciones, Rosarito, Mexico
17Win17–0John Mark ApolinarioTKO2, 2:57Sep 26, 2015Centro de Convenciones, Puerto Peñasco, Mexico
16Win16–0Jether OlivaRTD4, 3:00Feb 28, 2015Centro de Convenciones, Rosarito, Mexico
15Win15–0Carlos FontesTKO8, 2:17Dec 6, 2014Centro de Usos Múltiples, Hermosillo, Mexico
14Win14–0Víctor Méndez8Aug 30, 2014Centro de Usos Múltiples, Hermosillo, Mexico
13Win13–0José Estrella5, 0:10Jun 27, 2014Hipódromo Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico
12Win12–0Antonio RodríguezKO3, 2:28Apr 11, 2014Hipódromo Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico
11Win11–0Javier Cifuentes4 Feb 15, 2014Feria Mesoamericana, Tapachula, Mexico
10Win10–0Adán OsunaTKO1, 1:56Dec 13, 2013Hipódromo Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico
9Win9–0Oswaldo CastroUD8Oct 26, 2013Hipódromo Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico
8Win8–0Saúl HernándezTKO5, 1:04Aug 23, 2013Forum Tecate, Tijuana, Mexico
7Win7–0Rafael AlvaradoTKO2, 1:31Jun 14, 2013Caliente Hipódromo, Tijuana, Mexico
6Win6–0Marino CaneteTKO2, 2:09Apr 10, 2013Salón Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Mexico
5Win5–0Leonardo ReyesTKO1, 2:18Feb 16, 2013Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico
4Win4–0Joan SandovalUD4Nov 28, 2012Salón Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Mexico
3Win3–0Carlos CastañedaUD4Sep 20, 2012Salón Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Mexico
2Win2–0Javier Miranda4Jun 7, 2012Salón Las Pulgas, Tijuana, Mexico
1Win1–0José Guadalupe Salgado1, 1:04May 5, 2012Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico