Former WBC bantamweight champion Luis ‘Pantera’ Nery 28-0 (22) has been handed a tough assignment in his United States debut when he takes on technician McJoe Arroyo 18-2 (8) over 10-rounds at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on the undercard of the IBF welterweight title defence of Errol Spence Jr against Mikey Garcia this Saturday night.
“We are very motivated, with a great preparation and ready for a war. Arroyo is a very brave fighter and very good boxer and I think the fight will thrill the fans,” said Nery to Fightnews.
The 24-year-old Mexican southpaw, who says he is just two-and-a-half pounds over the contracted weight of 118-pounds, will travel with his team to Texas on Tuesday.
Nery, the WBC number one contender behind the Mexican sanctioning body’s champion Nordine Ouabaali 15-0 (11) of France, is confident he will reclaim world championship honours this year.
“I will once again become world champion this year at bantamweight. The fight against Arroyo is very important and I’ll give a great fight and get a spectacular victory to make a dream debut in the United States,” Nery said.
In August 2017 Nery travelled to Japan where he dethroned long-reigning WBC champion Shinsuke Yamanaka 27-2-2 (19) by fourth round TKO. Nery returned seven months later to repeat the treatment in half the time, stopping Yamanaka in two frames for the vacant WBC title.
Puerto Rico’s Arroyo, 33, claimed the vacant IBF super flyweight title against previously undefeated Arthur Villanueva in August 2015 before losing the belt to Filipino Jerwin Ancajas by unanimous decision 14-months later. Ten months later he dropped another 12-round decision, this time to American southpaw Rau’shee Warren.
