Luis Nery vs Azat Hovhannisyan eliminator targeted for February 18th in California

Super bantamweight contender Luis Nery revealed on Twitter yesterday that his WBC final eliminator against Azat Hovhannisyan, which the sanctioning body ordered in November, will go down on February 18th, with ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez adding that the bout is “tentatively” set to take place in California.

Connoisseurs of donnybrooks, slobberknockers, rip-roaring tussles, and other such endeavors should circle the date. The relatively focused violence of Nery (33-1, 25 KO) and the whirlwind brutality of Hovhannisyan (21-3, 17 KO) should produce a slugfest for the ages and produce a worthy challenger for the winner of Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton.

That said, the pressure will definitely be on “Crazy A.” Fun as he is to watch, he’s done very, very little with his career since losing a competitive decision to Rey Vargas in 2018. Of his last seven opponents, only Franklin Manzanilla could be considered noteworthy. At 34 years old, it’s now or never for Hovhannisyan, while the 28-year-old Nery will still have time to bounce back (again) if things don’t go his way.