In a WBC super bantamweight eliminator, former world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (34-1, 26 KOs) scored a spectacular eleventh round TKO against Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California. The bout was a violent slugfest with both fighters rocked multiple times. Nery shots progressively busted up Hovhannisyan’s face. However, midway Hovhannisyan’s bodywork seemed to turn the tide in his favor. In round ten, Nery staggered Hovhannisyan with a left hook, then dropped him. Hovhannisyan barely survived the round. Nery staggered Hovhannisyan again in round eleven and referee Ray Corona waved it off. Time was 1:51.
At the time of the stoppage, Nery was ahead on all three scorecards, 95-94, 96-93, 96-93.
“I knew this was going to be a very difficult fight, Azat is a very tough fighter,” said Nery. “We gave the fans an incredible show. I want the winner between Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton. I feel ready for a world championship.”
“We are disappointed in this outcome, but that’s boxing,” said Hovhannisyan. “There was a lot of back-and-forth action, and we did all that we could.” Continue reading “Nery stops Hovhannisyan in classic”