Naoya Inoue-Luis Nery Set, May 6 In Tokyo; Three Title Fights Confirmed For Undercard

Naoya Inoue is set to headline a ‘Monster’ event.

The long-ago confirmed Ring and undisputed 122-pound championship clash between divisional king Naoya Inoue and Tijuana’s Luis Nery was formally announced Thursday in Tokyo. The matchup will take place May 6 at the Tokyo Dome, atop an Amazon Prime-Japan/ESPN+ show that will feature at least four major title fights.

Bantamweight titlists Jason Moloney and Takuma Inoue will enter separate defenses of their respective reigns.

Australia’s Moloney (26-2, 19 knockouts), No. 2 at 118, will defend his WBO strap versus unbeaten contender Yoshiki Takei (8-0, 8 KOs), a former kickboxing standout and Inoue stablemate also from Yokohama.

“I’ve always wanted to fight in Japan, and to do it on this huge show in front of a sold-out crowd at the Tokyo Dome is what dreams are made of,” Moloney said in a statement provided by event co-promoter Top Rank. “I want to be known as a throwback world champion. I won my title in America, defended it in Canada, and now I’m willing to go into enemy territory and defend my title in Japan against the undefeated Yoshiki Takei.

“I know the Japanese fans will enjoy this fight, and I look forward to making some new fans in Japan and all over the world. On May 6, I will show the world what the ‘Mayhem Era’ is all about!”

Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), No. 5 at 118, will fight on the same show as his older brother for the first time since Dec. 2022. The younger Inoue puts his WBA title on the line versus countryman Sho Ishida (34-3, 17 KOs).

The pair of titleholders both won their belts shortly after Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs), No. 2 pound-for-pound, abdicated the bantamweight throne last January.

Takuma Inoue was the first to fill a vacancy, when he outpointed Liborio Solis to win the WBA belt last April 8 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. He defended for the first time in a ninth-round, body shot knockout of former 115-pound titlist Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs) on February 24, also at Ariake Arena.

Moloney retained his WBO belt in a twelve-round, majority decision over Saul Sanchez on January 13 in Quebec City, Canada. Their twelve-round slugfest marked the first true entry in the already hot 2024 Fight of the Year discussion.

Also on the show, WBA flyweight titleholder Seigo Yuri Akui (19-2-1, 11 KOs), No. 4 at 112, will face Yokohama’s Taku Kuwahara (13-1, 8 KOs) in his first defense.

Akui won the belt in a twelve-round decision over longtime unbeaten titlist Artem Dalakian on January 23 at EDION Arena in Osaka. He will once again face Kuwahara in a rematch of their July 2021 meeting, won by Akui via tenth-round stoppage. Kuwahara has since won five in a row.

“Naoya Inoue is the world’s best fighter, a young man who amazes me every time he steps in the ring. Luis Nery is a tough challenger, but I fully expect Inoue to get the job done in front of more than 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome,” said Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum, whose company co-promotes Inoue along with Ohashi Promotions. “In addition to this incredible main event, we have a spectacular undercard highlighted by Jason Moloney, a road warrior who is coming to Japan determined to show he’s the world’s best bantamweight.”

There are also tentative plans to add a flyweight bout between Mexico’s Angel Ayala (17-0, 7 KOs), No. 7 at 112, and the Philippines’s Dave Apolinario (20-0, 14 KOs). Original plans call for the two to meet for the IBF flyweight title. However, the belt is still in possession of San Antonio’s Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs), who also holds the WBO title. The No. 1 ranked flyweight and No. 10 pound-for-pound entrant plans to return to the 115-pound division.

The loaded undercard is just as befitting a major event for Inoue as was the venue choice.

Inoue became Japan’s first-ever two-division undisputed champion after a tenth-round knockout of Marlon Tapales. Their December 26 Ring, WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO 122-pound championship took place at Ariake Arena, which has housed his last four bouts. His team expressed concern about the thousands of fans they had to turn away from overwhelming ticket demand and that a much larger site was required for his next fight at home.

With that, the decision was made for boxing to return to the Tokyo Dome boasts an attendance record of 74,500, though traditionally scaled to house up to 55,000 fans. The famed locale previously hosted a pair of heavyweight championships featuring unbeaten, undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson—including his monstrous February 1990 knockout defeat to Buster Douglas in what remains the benchmark for historic boxing upsets.

Inoue, who has won titles at 108, 115, 118 and 122, will attempt his second overall junior featherweight title defense. He stormed through the division, beginning with an eighth-round stoppage of unbeaten WBC/WBO titlist Stephen Fulton last July 25 in Tokyo.

Nery will enter the fight in hopes of becoming a three-time titlist spanning two weight divisions.

In addition to his WBC bantamweight title reign, he previously held the WBC junior featherweight belt which he lost to Brandon Figueroa via seventh-round knockout in May 2021. It remains the lone career defeat for the 29-year-old southpaw, who has since won four straight. Among that list was his Fight of the Year-level eleventh-round stoppage of Azat Hovhannisyan in their WBC title eliminator last February 18 in Pomona, California.

Nery’s most recent win came last July 8, when he scored a second-round knockout of Froilan Saludar in Metepec, Mexico.

Jake Donovan a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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