Luis Nery vs Brandon Figueroa set for May 15th on Showtime

It was in the works for a while, but it looks as though it’s coming soon. Dan Rafael reports that former bantamweight champion Luis Nery will defend his WBC junior featherweight title against WBA “world” champion Brandon Figueroa in a May 15 Showtime main event.

ESPN’s Fernando Barbosa first revealed the date two weeks back. The fight has not been officially announced yet by Showtime, but on last Saturday’s Ennis-Lipinets card, “big news” for the date was promised for this week, and this will likely be announced in the coming days.

Nery (31-0, 24 KO) is in need of a strong performance after looking rough against unheralded Aaron Alameda in last September’s vacant title fight. The fight was his first since losing his bantamweight mandatory challenger status on the scales ahead of a subsequently canceled clash with Emmanuel Rodriguez, and “Pantera” subsequently split with trainer Eddy Reynoso.

The 24-year-old Figueroa (21-0-1, 16 KO) is in a slightly better spot at the moment, having demolished Damien Vazquez after a highly entertaining 2019 draw with Julio Ceja. “The Heartbreaker” is by far the less proven of the two, though, making this a delightfully intriguing matchup with off-the-scales violence potential if Nery comes out sharp.

Between this and Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Ronny Rios, the super bantamweight division is looking really damn good at the moment. Fingers crossed we end the year with some unifications.