Tijuana Bad Boy Luis Nery and other Miscreants Dapple the Spence-Garcia Card

Tijuana bad boy Luis Nery (pictured) makes his first appearance in a U.S. ring tomorrow night on the first-ever FOX pay-per-view card. Nery’s bout with McJoe Arroyo, a bantamweight contest slated for 10 rounds, will be one of four PPV fights (suggested retail $74.95) airing from AT&T Stadium, the main bout of which, Spence vs. Garcia, is a juicy and all-too-rare pairing of two of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Luis Nery reportedly had only nine amateur fights, winning them all, five by knockout. His limited amateur background was no impediment when he turned pro. He has run roughshod over his competition and will take a 28-0 record (22 knockouts) into his match with Puerto Rico’s Arroyo (18-2, 8 KOs).

Arroyo is a former IBF super flyweight champion whose defeats have come against two of the top dogs in the division, Jerwin Ancajas and Rau’shee Warren. Nonetheless, Nery is heavily favored to keep his undefeated record intact.

A bout between Nery and Japan’s baby-faced knockout artist Naoya Inoue would be a delicious pairing but that won’t happen anytime soon and if it ever does happen, it won’t happen in Japan where Luis Nery is banned for life.

Nery ventured to the Land of the Rising Sun in August of 2017 and conquered previously undefeated Shinsuke Yamanaka, the long-reigning WBC bantamweight title-holder. Nery was beating Yamanaka to a pulp when Yamanaka’s corner hoisted the white flag late in the fourth round.

Then things got complicated. Nery’s post-fight urine test revealed traces of the banned substance zilpaterol, a close cousin to clenbuterol. As the sanctioning body with the strongest anti-doping platform, the WBC had no recourse but to suspend Nery, but Nery argued that the adverse test result was the result of eating contaminated meat and the WBC rescinded his suspension with the explanation that they could not prove otherwise.

As a concession to their Japanese consorts, the WBC mandated a Nery-Yamanaka rematch. It came off in March of last year at Kokugikan, an arena in Tokyo.

Nery came in five pounds overweight for Nery-Yamanaka II, a huge surplus for a boxer in one of the lightest weight classes. He boiled off two pounds before entering the ring, but was still considerably bigger than Yamanaka, one of Japan’s most popular athletes, who he smashed into retirement inside two lopsided rounds.

The Japan Boxing Commission banned Nery for life and the WBC saddled him with an indefinite suspension which, like all indefinite suspensions, would be lifted when it was convenient. Tomorrow’s fight with McJoe Arroyo is Nery’s first under the banner of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions which has reportedly signed Nery to a five-fight deal.

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Also included in the PPV quartet is a 10-round match between David Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs) and J’Leon Love (24-2-1, 1 ND). The precocious Benavidez, born and raised in Phoenix, was so dominant as an amateur that he turned pro at age 16. Because of his age, he launched his pro career in Mexico where he won his first seven fights, all by knockout, six in the opening round. In his 19^th pro fight, at age 20, he won the vacant WBC 168-pound title with a narrow decision over Ronald Gavril, becoming the youngest super middleweight champion in history.

The Gavril fight was harder than expected, spawning a rematch that Benavidez won with a clear-cut unanimous decision. But there would be no second title defense. Six months after the rematch, while his career was stalled by promotional issues, David snorted cocaine while partying with friends in Las Vegas.

His timing couldn’t have been worse. A random drug test performed by VADA on Aug. 27 of last year exposed his transgression and the WBC stripped him of his title. Tomorrow’s match with J’Leon Love, a Detroit native who fights out of Las Vegas, will be Benavidez’s first start in 13 months.

Love has also run afoul of the PED police. One of best wins came in May of 2013 when he outpointed the rugged Gabriel Rosado. That victory was voided when Love tested positive for a banned diuretic.

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Yet another PPV fight is a 10-round heavyweight contest between three-time world title challenger Chris Arreola (37-5-1) and little-known Jean Pierre Augustin (16-0-1). Arreola has twice tested positive for marijuana with the result that his “W” over Friday Ahunanya in July of 2011 and his “W” over Travis Kauffman in December of 2015 were both scrubbed away. On BoxRec, both now appear as ND (no decision).

One might say that Arreola was also a victim of bad timing. Many jurisdictions have removed marijuana from the list of banned substances. As the stigma has faded and legal restraints have been loosened, many long-time pot users, including octogenarian promoter Bob Arum, of all people, have come out of the closet regarding their marijuana use. Take away those two no-decisions and Arreola’s record improves to 39-5-1, which in our reckoning is the correct reading.

The four-fight FOX pay-per-view card culminating in Spence vs. Garcia goes at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT. An hour before the telecast, which can be accessed on any device, Fox Sports 1 will air the heavyweight bout between Charles Martin and Gregory Corbin and perhaps one other undercard fight.

Martin (25-2-1) made the trivia books when his IBF heavyweight title reign lasted only 85 days, the shortest heavyweight title reign in history. The undefeated Corbin (15-0) is a former national Golden Gloves champion whose pro debut was moth-balled by a seven-and-a-half year stint in prison on a cocaine trafficking conviction.

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