Luis Nery

Luis Esteban Nery Hernández, popularly known as Pantera (Panther), is a professional boxer hailing from Tijuana, Mexico. Born on December 12, 1994, Nery is a former two-weight world champion who held the WBC and Ring magazine bantamweight titles between 2017 and 2018 and the WBC super bantamweight title from 2020 to May 2021. According to BoxRec, as of March 2022, Nery ranks fourth among the world's best super bantamweights, while The Ring ranks him tenth.

Nery made his way into the professional boxing world by winning all nine amateur fights he contested, five of which were won by knockout. He made his professional debut against José Guadalupe Salgado on May 5, 2012, when he was just 17 years old. He secured a 1st-round TKO victory against Salgado and went on to win 30 more consecutive fights, 23 of which were won by way of a stoppage, establishing himself as one of the most promising young boxers of his time.

Nery won his first professional boxing world title at the age of 22 on August 15, 2017, after 23 professional fights, challenging Shinsuke Yamanaka for the bantamweight WBC and Ring titles. Nery showed dominance in the fight and defeated Yamanaka with a 4th round TKO to become the world champion in bantamweight boxing. He also went on to win The Ring bantamweight title from Yamanaka, beating him via 2nd round TKO on March 1, 2018. With this victory, Nery became a two-weight world champion.

Nery's professional boxing record stands at 34-1, including 26 knockouts, one loss via knockout and four title wins. He has had only a single loss in his professional boxing career so far, which he suffered against Brandon Figueroa via 7th round KO on May 15, 2021, ending his 31-fight win streak. Figueroa is the only boxer to beat Nery. Nery's most recent fight was a non-title bout against Armenian boxer Azat Hovhannisyan on February 18, 2023, which he won via 11th round TKO. It has been 1 month and 13 days since this fight.

Nery has competed in two weight classes, namely the Bantamweight and Super bantamweight classes. He stands at a height of 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) and has a reach of 65 in (165 cm). He fights in a southpaw stance.

Career Highlights

Nery has been a part of 35 fights in total, and the following bouts are some of the highlights of his career:

Nery vs. Yamanaka, August 15, 2017:

Nery secured his first world titles by defeating Shinsuke Yamanaka via 4th round TKO. In this fight, he won the WBC and The Ring bantamweight titles and became the bantamweight champion of the world. It was a huge moment in his career, especially since it was a world title bout and Nery showed utter dominance in this fight.

Nery vs. Yamanaka II:

Nery faced Yamanaka again in a rematch, and this time, he won with a second-round TKO. In this fight, Nery managed to knock down Yamanaka three times, and the match was called off after that, giving Nery another win in his career.

Nery vs. Alameda, September 26, 2020:

Nery faced Aaaron 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, May 15, 2021:

Nery fought Brandon Figueroa in a unification bout for the titles of WBA regular super bantamweight champion and Nery's own WBC super bantamweight title. In the fight, Figueroa was the better fighter during the second part of the fight and managed to stop Nery in the seventh round, unifying the WBA and WBC super bantamweight titles. This was Nery's first loss in his professional boxing career.

Career Summary

Luis Nery's career has been nothing short of amazing. He has fought a total of 35 times till today, winning 34 fights, losing one, and has had no draws or no-contests. He has a whopping 26 knockout wins under his belt and has won four world titles at two weight classes.

Some of Nery's best fights and notable victories include wins over Shinsuke Yamanaka, McJoe Arroyo, Arthur Villanueva, Renson Robles, Aarón Alameda, Jason Canoy, and Azat Hovhannisyan. Nery has shown immense potential as a fighter throughout his professional boxing career and has established himself as one of the finest in the sport.

Nery's career has not been without its challenges. Nery tested positive for zilpaterol, a banned substance, after defeating Yamanaka for the bantamweight WBC and Ring titles. While his B-sample confirmed the result of the positive test, the WBC concluded that the result was due to contaminated food, and the result of the Yamanaka-Nery title bout wasn't overturned. However, the WBC ordered a rematch, which he eventually won.

Although Nery suffered his first loss in May 2021 against Brandon Figueroa, he returned to the ring in February 2023 with a strong performance against Armenian boxer Azat Hovhannisyan,

Luis Nery Fight Record