Nery vs Hovhannisyan Date, Time, Fight Preview, And TV Channel
Luis Nery And Azat Hovhannisyan Clash In WBC Eliminator For Inoue-Fulton Winner
Pomona, California is the place to be this Saturday, February 18, as former two-weight world champion Luis Nery (33-1 25 KOs) faces off against perennial super bantamweight contender Azat Hovhannisyan (21-3 17KOs) in a 12-round WBC Eliminator contest, promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy, live on DAZN.
According to DAZN, the main card is set to get underway at 11 pm GMT (6 pm. ET/ 3 pm PT) with the main event ring walks scheduled for 2 am GMT (9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT). These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights, but it will be an earlier start and finish to the night than usual for US fight nights.
With the super bantamweight division eagerly anticipating the arrival of former undisputed Bantamweight champion, and former three-weight world champion Naoya Inoue, who is rumoured to face unified champ, Stephen Fulton sometime in late spring. The winner of this contest will be in prime position to fight the victor of Inoue vs Fulton, or the holder of the IBF and WBA titles, Uzbek Olympic medalist Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Nery has rebuilt himself after a devastating stoppage defeat to Brandon Figueroa. The man Nery lost his WBC title to in May 2021. Since then Nery has bounced back with a hotly contested split decision win over undefeated Carlos Castro, and a TKO3 win over journeyman Mexican David Carmona in his last outing in October last year.
Azat is a different story, suffering two early career defeats to Walter Santibanes in a majority decision over six rounds, and a debut defeat to Juan Reyes, by unanimous decision. Despite his two losses, Azat picked himself up and went on an eight-fight win streak, earning himself a title shot against then WBC champion Rey Vargas. Azat lost by unanimous decision against Vargas in New York, but has since rebounded again, to earn himself a crack at Nery, in what is being deemed in the industry as an ‘unofficial title eliminator’ of sorts.