FIGHT WEEK
Naoya Inoue will face Luis Nery in the early morning hours Monday, U.S. time. Four days later, in Australia, Vasiliy Lomachenko is set to take on George Kambosos Jr.
NAOYA INOUE (26-0, 23 KOs)
VS. LUIS NERY (35-1, 27 KOs)
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Date: Monday, May 6
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Time: 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
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Where: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
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TV/Stream: ESPN+
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Division: Junior featherweight (122 pounds)
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At stake: Inoue’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles
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Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: Inoue No. 2
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Odds: Inoue 11-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
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Significance (up to five stars): *****
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Also on the card: Jason Moloney vs. Yoshiki Takei, bantamweights (for Moloney’s WBO title); Takuma Inoue vs. Sho Ishida, bantamweights (for Inoue’s WBA title); Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Taku Kuwahara, flyweights (for Akui’s WBA title)
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Background: Four-division titleholder Naoya Inoue, arguably the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound (he’s No. 2 on Boxing Junkie’s list), is riding a streak of seven consecutive knockouts against top-level opposition. That’s why the near-flawless 31-year-old Japanese star is around an 11-1 favorite over Luis Nery on Tuesday in Tokyo, meaning oddsmakers believe Nery has next to no chance to win the fight. “The Monster” is coming off a 10th-round knockout of Marlon Tapales to collect all four major 122-pound titles in December. Nery has won four consecutive fights since he was knocked out by Brandon Figueroa in the seventh round to lose the WBC belt in 2021. The 29-year-old Mexican southpaw last fought in July, when he stopped journeyman Froilan Saludar in two rounds. He outpointed Carlos Castro and then stopped David Carmona and Azat Hovhannisyan before the fight with Saludar. Figueroa lost his title to Stephen Fulton, who then lost them to Inoue.
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Prediction: Inoue KO 8
VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-3, 11 KOs)
VS. GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR. (21-2, 10 KOs)
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Date: Saturday, May 11 (in U.S.)
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Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
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Where: RAC Arena, Perth
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TV/Stream: ESPN+
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Division: Lightweight (135 pounds)
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At stake: Vacant IBF title
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Boxing Junkie Pound-for-pound: Lomachenko No. 13
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Odds: Lomachenko 5½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
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Significance (up to five stars): *****
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Also on the card: Nina Hughes vs. Cherneka Johnson, bantamweights (for Hughes’ WBA title); Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara, junior bantamweights; Imam Khataev vs. Ricards Bolotniks, light heavyweights; Joe Goodall vs. Djanago Opelu, heavyweights
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Background: Lomachenko, the 36-year-old boxing wizard from Ukraine, hasn’t held a major world title since he lost his 135-pound belts to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 yet is still considered one of the best boxers in the world. He bounced back from the loss by stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in June 2021 and then defeating Richard Commey by a one-sided decision that December. He has fought sporadically since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, entering the ring only twice. He easily outpointed Jamaine Ortiz in October of that year. Then the former three-division champion got his chance to regain past glory in a meeting with then-undisputed 135-pound champ Devin Haney in May of last year. Lomachenko gave a typically strong performance against his highly rated opponent but lost a disputed decision, 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. He will get another crack at a belt against Kambosos in Australia. Kambosos shocked the boxing world by defeating Lopez to win a split decision and three 135-pound belts in 2021. It was downhill after that, as he lost back-to-back one-sided decisions to Haney. He rebounded to beat Maxi Hughes by a majority decision but he wasn’t convincing last July.
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Prediction: Lomachenko UD
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
SATURDAY
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Jessica McCaskill vs. Lauren Price, welterweights (for McCaskill’s WBA title), Cardiff, Wales (Peacock)
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Eduardo Hernandez vs. Daniel Lugo, junior lightweights, Aguascalientes, Mexico
DAZN -
John Leonardo vs. Frank Gonzalez, junior featherweights, Atlantic City, New Jersey
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Story originally appeared on Boxing Junkie
