In an all-out battle that absolutely will likely be a contender for struggle of the 12 months honors, Luis Nery and Azat Hovhannisyan slugged it out with reckless abandon into the eleventh spherical earlier than Nery received the stoppage victory in a WBC junior featherweight title eliminator on Saturday night time in the principle occasion of a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN on the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
WOW – large, large win for @luisnerynp in a BATTLE between two absolute warriors…
What. A. Combat.#NeryHovhannisyan | LIVE on @daznboxing pic.twitter.com/6uOIsBk2ld
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) February 19, 2023
Nery, a former junior featherweight and bantamweight world titlist, who scored a Tenth-round knockdown, earned one other shot at a 122-pound title, turning into a compulsory challenger for unified titleholder Stephen Fulton.
“I really feel good. We knew it could be a tough struggle,” Nery stated by an interpreter. “We had a tough preparation for this one however we anticipated to get the victory. We anticipated a knockout. We knew it was gonna be a knockout. Azat is a tricky fighter however we received the knockout. It was good for the followers.”
It didn’t take lengthy to warmth up
It was a hard-hitting and thrilling struggle from the opening bell, simply as most anticipated it could be. There have been fixed bursts of toe-to-action and each fighters have been visibly rocked at varied occasions within the struggle.
A left hand from Nery opened bloody minimize beneath Hovhannisyan’s proper eye within the third spherical.
Within the fourth spherical, Hovhannisyan had Nery on shaky legs from a sequence of pictures earlier than he rebounded with a dangerous mixture off the ropes, together with an uppercut, which rocked Hovhannisyan as they have been each damage within the remaining seconds.
Nery inflicted a second minimize on Hovhannisyan within the fifth spherical, opening a wound on his proper eyelid. The blood flowed however Hovhannisyan brushed it apart and continued to plow ahead.
Spherical after spherical, they merely traded punishment with referee Ray Corona merely a spectator as a result of there was so little for him to do.
Each fighters have been shaken from the fixed blows within the brutal ninth spherical after which Nery (34-1, 26 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Mexico, lastly broke by within the Tenth spherical. He landed a left cross and a proper hand that wobbled Hovhannisyan earlier than one other left despatched him the mat with 40 seconds remaining for the one knockdown of the struggle.
Hovhannisyan smiled and received to his knees earlier than rising at Corona’s rely of seven. Nery was throughout Hovhannisyan for the remainder of the spherical, forcing him to the ropes, the place he teed off. Hovhannisyan, often called “Loopy A” for his relentless fashion, barely managed to throw a couple of punches again whereas Corona was proper on the verge of stopping it when the bell sounded to finish the spherical.
Hovhannisyan appeared OK because the eleventh spherical started and he landed some pictures and was approaching halfway by the spherical, however when Nery wobbled the bleeding Hovhannisyan with two left arms, Corona stepped in and waved it off at 1 minute, 51 seconds to deliver an finish to the moment basic
“We’re clearly upset the struggle didn’t prove the way in which we needed, but it surely’s boxing,” Hovhannisyan stated by an interpreter. “I believed he was an excellent fighter earlier than and right now I feel he is a good fighter. He received right now. That’s it.”
Based on CompuBox statistics, Nery landed 195 of 596 punches (33 p.c) and Hovhannisyan landed 210 of 688 (31 p.c).
Hovhannisyan (21-4, 17 KOs), 34, an Armenian based mostly in Los Angeles, noticed a seven-fight profitable streak finish. He had not misplaced since a dropping a unanimous resolution difficult then-WBC junior featherweight titlist Rey Vargas in Might 2018.
Nery received his third struggle in a row since getting stopped within the seventh spherical with a physique shot and shedding the WBC junior featherweight title to Brandon Figueroa in Might 2021.
Figueroa misplaced the WBC belt to Fulton in a November 2021 unification struggle and Fulton is near finalizing a deal to defend the titles in opposition to Japanese pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue, who recently vacated the undisputed bantamweight title to maneuver up in weight, in Japan within the early summer season.
Nery will likely be paying shut consideration to that struggle, assuming it’s finalized.
“I need Inoue, I need Fulton,” Nery stated. “I really feel prepared go for the world championship whether or not it’s with Fulton or with Inoue.”
Earlier than that struggle comes round, nonetheless, Nery took a second to understand the extraordinary storm he had simply weathered
“It was a warfare for everyone,” he stated. “We noticed the followers and we thank them.”
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