By Rafael Soto
After receiving a warning from the World Boxing Council, Luis "Pantera" Nery has decided to withdraw from his planned return in Tijuana, which was set to to take place on June 9.
Nery (26-0, 20KO's) was going to face experienced Filipino Jetro Pabustan (29-5-6, 9KO's) at the Municipal Auditorium of Tijuana. The contest was going to be broadcast by Azteca 7.
But the WBC issued a warning to Nery on Monday, because they suspended him a few weeks ago.
Nery lost his WBC bantamweight title after blowing the weight limit for his March rematch with Shinsuke Yamanaka in Japan.
The struggle to make weight made little difference, as he blew out Yamanaka in two rounds - which sent the Japanese legend into retirement.
The undefeated 23-year-old did caution a few days ago that he partially injured his left hand after hitting the elbow of a sparring partner, but he was still planning to fight on the June date.
After he failed to make weight, Nery met with the WBC and their president Mauricio Sulaiman, and they agreed to work out a resolution - part of which called for Nery to remain suspended.
After being advised that Nery was returning, the sanctioning body issued a statement with a firm warning - that made Nery think twice about going forward with the June event.
"Along with his representatives, Luis Nery attended a hearing on March 9. During this hearing the position of the WBC was to reach a settlement, after considering the best way to help the boxer return to the ring. And also to fight for the world championship of the World Boxing Council... eventually," the WBC stated.
"WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman clearly put forward two options to Luis Nery. The first was for him to accept the conditions of the WBC, in order to correct the problems which led him to lose the world title. Or the second option, was for Nery to ignore the sanctioning body... and pursue his career on a different path.
"Nery's clarified that he would follow any regulation imposed by the WBC. We deeply regret the decision of Nery to fight while being suspended by the WBC. Due to this action it is clear that his decision has changed. There were files presented during Nery's hearing, in which several serious failures were committed. Unfortunately we will not be able to address them, after Nery taking this course of action."