Luis Reynaldo Nunez-Toshiki Shimomachi IBF featherweight eliminator ordered

Negotiations are now underway for a 12-round featherweight elimination bout to determine the No. 1 spot in the IBF’s ratings between Luis Reynaldo “The Twist” Nunez and Toshiki Shimomachi.

IBF Championship Chairman George Martinez issued a request for availability on July 7 and both IBF No. 3-rated Nunez, 24-0 (16 KOs), of Las Vegas via the Dominican Republic, and IBF No. 4-rated Shimomachi, 23-1-3 (12 KOs), of Osaka, Japan, readily agreed.

The winner of the proposed matchup will become the mandatory for IBF champion Angelo Leo.

As BoxingScene reported, Zuffa Boxing’s No. 2-rated contender Omar Trinidad had originally been offered the elimination fight against Nunez, but according to the IBF’s Martinez, rejected the offer.

26-year-old Nunez was last seen stopping Carlos Roberto Perez Perez, live on ProBoxTV in May. 29-year-old southpaw Shimomachi won a 10-round majority decision over Reiya Abe, also in May.

Nunez promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, says he’s hammering out the final details of the fight with longtime Japanese associate Joe Koizumi acting as point of contact for both parties.