Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Luis Nery once again screws up.
There’s no denying that Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs) is an exceptionally talented fighter… he just does too many things that don’t endear him to fans.
Nery was scheduled to face fellow former bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-1, 12 KOs) in the opening bout of the Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz pay-per-view main card, but that’s no longer happening. The Mexican power-puncher came in a pound over the 118 lbs limit, and despite having time to re-weigh, he never even tried.
Ordinarily, this would be where the opponent would accept a catchweight and they’d negotiate money. Instead, the fight is off.
Source: The Luis Nery-Emmanuel Rodriguez fight is off after Nery came in one pound overweight. No new agreement could be reached. Nery was 119 for a fight contested at 118 pounds. The fight was slated to open #WilderOrtiz2 PPV
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) November 23, 2019
Nery is a repeat offender on the scales. He lost his WBC belt in March 2018 after missing weight by three pounds for his title defense vs. Shinsuke Yamanaka. The first time he fought Yamanaka, he knocked him out in Japan and won the WBC title, but failed his drug test for zilpaterol. Nery avoided punishment thanks to the “tainted meat” defense, but after he knocked out Yamanaka in the rematch, he was banned from boxing in Japan forever.
Back in North America, Nery was in position for a WBC title shot with a win over Rodriguez, and instead wrecks everything by not fulfilling his requirement to make weight. Given Rodriguez just got knocked out by Naoya Inoue in his last bout, and adding in Nery’s history, you can understand why he said no.
It’s not known whether Rodriguez will get any compensation given this cancellation. His purse was officially listed at $75,000, while Nery’s was $300,000.
A featherweight bout between Leduan Barthelemy (15-0-1, 7 KOs) and Eduardo Ramirez (22-2-3, 9 KOs) has since been bumped from the FS2 prelims to the PPV main card, which begins at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on Saturday, November 23rd from Las Vegas, Nevada.