Luis Nery enjoyed a successful – albeit, anticlimactic – featherweight debut.
The former two-division titlist had little difficulty in defeating Thailand’s Sathaporn Saart via technical decision. Nery prevailed by scores of 80-71, 80-71 and 79-73 in their headbutt-shortened contest on Sunday at Bishkek Arena in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Nery hoped to make a statement in his first fight with Kameda Promotions, the company led by former three-division titlist Koki Kameda, who presented two days’ worth of events in the capital city. Incidentally, Nery’s previous opponent, Kyosonuke Kameda – Koki’s younger cousin – on Saturday claimed the biggest moment of Kameda Promotions’ weekend in an upset win over John Riel Casimero.
Sunday’s headliner was designed as an introduction into the featherweight division for Nery, who aspires to claim a major title at a third weight. The 30-year-old southpaw jumped out to a strong start and never really looked back, as Saart – who fought for just the second time outside of Thailand – quickly proved to be over-matched.
By his own admission, Nery wanted to go rounds and wear down Saart to build towards a late stoppage. Sunday was his first fight since February’s technical knockout win over Kameda in Tijuana, Mexico, and just his second fight since he was put away in the sixth round of a failed challenge for Naoya Inoue’s undisputed 122lbs championship in May 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
There was a sense that Nery could have put away the overmatched Saart in the early going. The decision to extend the fight into the later rounds involved Nery depriving himself of a spectacular finish, even if that was beyond his immediate control.
A clash of heads just before the midway point of round eight left Saart unable to continue. The fight then went to the scorecards, where a victory for Nery was never in doubt.
The 22-year-old Saart, 17-3 (9 KOs), therefore ended a four-fight winning streak with the lopsided defeat.
Meanwhile, Nery, 37-3 (28 KOs), has won two in a row since the abovementioned defeat by Inoue. Sunday’s affair was his fourth career fight in Asia but first in a non-title capacity. Given his new-found partnership with Kameda Promotions, a return could be likely – though not a necessity should he land a title shot within his next fight or two.
Prior to Sunday, Nery – a former lineal and WBC 118bs champion and WBC 122lbs titlist – was already installed as the WBO’s number-one contender at 126lbs. He is still ranked fourth at 122lbs by the WBC, whose most recent ratings were just issued. He will likely land in the top 15 during their next update come mid-November ahead of the 63rd annual WBC convention in Bangkok, Thailand.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.
