Salvador Rodriguez, confirming news first broken by Franco Zorzini, reports that WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball and two-division titlist Luis Nery are on track to meet on August 16th. The bout was supposed to feature on Riyadh Season’s Devin Haney vs Teofimo Lopez show, which may or may not still be happening.
Nery (36-2, 28 KO), a former beltholder at 118 and 122, moved up to featherweight after a knockout loss to Naoya Inoue two Mays ago. A successful debut saw him hammer Kyonosuke Kameda into submission last February, suggesting that his power has followed him up.
Ball (22-0-1, 13 KO) will be facing by far his stiffest test since beating Raymond Ford for the belt last year. His two defenses have seen him overpower the aging, undersized Ronny Rios and TJ Doheny back to back; Nery represents a refreshing return to quality opposition.
Whatever happens with the main event, I’m very hopeful this one goes through. Absolute slobberknocker in the making.
