Luis Nery and Art Hovhannisyan put forth boxing’s Fight of the Year thus far in a dazzling battle of wills at the Pomona Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
Nery, (34-1, 26 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, was victorious as he went toe to toe with Hovhannisyan in a rock em sock em type affair that had the sold out crowd on their fight for much of the latter part of the fight.
“I knew this was going to be a very difficult fight, Azat is a very tough fighter.
“We are disappointed in this outcome, but that’s boxing,” said Hovhannisyan (21-4, 17 KOs). “There was a lot of back-and-forth action, and we did all that we could.”
“We gave the fans an incredible show. I want the winner between Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton. I feel ready for a world championship,” said Nery, who dropped Hovhannisyan late and eventually scored a referee stoppage at 1:51 in the 11th round of the 12-round WBC Super Bantamweight Title Eliminator Fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Zanfer Boxing.
The crowd was star studded, which featured Oscar De La Hoya, DLH associate and friend Mario Lopez, Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley, who’s son with the same namesake notched a decision win over Mario Lozano in the co-main event.
Photography: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy Promotions
