Luis Nery First Secures Fight In June, Then Withdraws After Not Realizing He’s Still Suspended By WBC

Former WBC bantamweight champion Luis Nery seemed so sure he would be able to fight on June 9, even booking a fight against former world title challenger Jetro Pabustan before realizing he is still suspended by the WBC. 

In a strange turn events for Nery, who is currently indefinitely suspended by the WBC, has withdrawn from his fight against Pabustan, according to Boxing Scene. The WBC then released a statement admonishing Nery for not complying with the WBC's suspension, which Nery accepted.

The World Boxing Council has been informed via the media,  that former WBC bantamweight world champion Luis Nery is scheduled to fight, which has caused great confusion within the world boxing community, as he's currently suspended indefinitely by the WBC in accordance with the pronouncement of March 2.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman clearly put forward two options to Luis Nery. The first was for him to accept the conditions of the WBC,  in order to correct the problems which led him to lose the world title. Or the second option, was for Nery to ignore the body… and pursue his career on a different  path.

Nery's clarified  that he would follow any regulation imposed by the WBC.

We deeply regret the decision of Nery to fight while being suspended by the WBC. Due to this action it is clear that his decision has changed.

There were files presented during Nery's hearing, in which several serious failures were committed. Unfortunately we will not be able to address them, after Nery taking this course of action.

Nery will return to the ring on June 9 on a boxing card in Tijuana, Mexico against former world title challenger Jetro Pabustan. This would have been Nery's first fight since defeating former world champion Shinsuke Yamanaka. 

The former bantamweight champion originally won the title last year when he defeated Yamanaka. Nery was later revealed to have tested positive for a banned substance. The WBC later ruled that Nery could keep his title on the condition that he would face Yamanaka in a rematch.

Nery and Yamanaka did in fact face each other in the March 1 rematch, but during the official weigh-ins, Nery weighed in at 123 pounds, five pounds over the bantamweight limit and one pound over the super bantamweight limit. A second attempt only got Nery down to about 121 pounds and was then stripped of the title. The fight continued, but Nery easily knocked out Yamanaka in the second round of their rematch, retiring the Japanese star. Nery was then issued a lifetime ban from boxing professionally in Japan.