Inoue vs. Nery, Lomachenko vs. Kambosos is coming up

FIGHT WEEK

Naoya Inoue will face Luis Nery early Monday morning, US time. Four days later, in Australia, Vasiliy Lomachenko will face George Kambosos Jr.

NAOYA INOUE (26-0, 23 KOs)
WITH. LUIS Nery (35-1, 27 KOs)

• Day: Monday, May 6
• Time: 4 a.m. ET / 1 a.m. PT (main event will be shown later)
• Where: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
• Television/Streaming: GAME+
• Assignment: Junior featherweight (122 pounds)
• Under threat: Inoue’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles
• Pound-for-pound boxing addict: Inoue number 2
• The odds: Inoue 11-1 favorite (average of multiple matches)
• Meaning (maximum five stars): *****
• Also on the card: Jason Moloney vs. Yoshiki Takei, bantamweight (for Moloney’s WBO title); Takuma Inoue vs. Sho Ishida, bantamweight (WBA title shot for Inoue); Seigo Yuri Akui vs. Taku Kuwahara, flyweight (for Akui’s WBA title)
• Background: Four-division defending champion Naoya Inoue, arguably the best fighter in the world (he’s No. 2 on Boxing Junkie’s list), is on a seven-fight knockout streak against top-level opposition. That’s why Japan’s near-flawless 31-year-old star is an 11-1 favorite over Luis Nery on Tuesday in Tokyo, meaning bettors believe Nery is almost a no-go. have a chance to win the match. “The Monster” is about to score a 10^th– knockout of Marlon Tapales to collect all four major 122-pound titles in December. Nery has won four straight since he was knocked out in the seventh round by Brandon Figueroa to lose his WBC title in 2021. The 29-year-old Mexican southpaw last competed in July, when he stopped journeyman Froilan Saludar in two rounds. He eliminated Carlos Castro and then stopped David Carmona and Azat Hovhannisyan before his fight with Saludar. Figueroa lost the titles to Stephen Fulton, who then lost them to Inoue.
• Guess: Inoue KO 8

VASILIY LOMACHENKO (17-3, 11 KOs)
WITH. GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR. (21-2, 10 KOs)

• Day: Saturday, May 11 (in the US)
• Time: 10pm ET / 7pm PT (main event will be shown later)
• Where: RAC Arena, Perth
• Television/Streaming: GAME+
• Assignment: Light (135 pounds)
• Under threat: IBF title is vacant
• Pound-for-pound boxing addict: Lomachenko No. 13
• The odds: Lomachenko 5½-1 favorite (average across multiple stores)
• Meaning (maximum five stars): *****
• Also on the card: Nina Hughes vs. Cherneka Johnson, bantamweight (for Hughes’ WBA title); Andrew Moloney vs. Pedro Guevara, junior bantamweight; Imam Khataev fights Ricards Bolotniks, a light heavyweight; Joe Goodall vs Djanago Opelu, a strong opponent
• Background: Lomachenko, a 36-year-old boxer from Ukraine, has not held a major world title since losing the 135-pound belt to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 but is still considered one of the greats best of the world. He bounced back from the loss by stopping Masayoshi Nakatani in June 2021 and then defeated Richard Commey by one-sided decision that December. He has fought sporadically since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, only entering the ring twice. He easily outpointed Jamaine Ortiz that October. The former three-division champion then got a chance to recapture past glory in a meeting with then-undisputed 135-pound champion Devin Haney last May. Lomachenko turned in a typically strong performance against a highly-rated opponent but lost by contested scores, 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. He would get another title shot at the championship against Kambosos in Australia. Kambosos shocked the boxing world by defeating Lopez to win three 135-pound belts in 2021. Then it went downhill as he lost consecutive one-sided decisions to Haney. He rebounded to beat Maxi Hughes by majority decision but he was unconvincing last July.
• Guess: Lomachenko UD

ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK

SATURDAY

• Jessica McCaskill vs. Lauren Price, welterweight (for McCaskill’s WBA title), Cardiff, Wales (Peacock)

• Eduardo Hernandez vs. Daniel Lugo, junior lightweight, Aguascalientes, Mexico
  DAZN
• John Leonardo vs. Frank Gonzalez, junior featherweight, Atlantic City, New Jersey
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