LAS VEGAS – Luis Nery needs a win badly Saturday night, but that didn’t stop the former bantamweight and junior featherweight champion from accepting another difficult fight following his first defeat.

Tijuana’s Nery didn’t hesitate when the 27-year-old contender was presented with the option of facing undefeated Carlos Castro on the Keith Thurman-Mario Barrios undercard. Brandon Figueroa knocked out Nery in the seventh round of his last bout, but Nery is confident he’ll be able to move back into championship contention by knocking off Phoenix’s Castro in their 10-round, 122-pound bout at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“I’m here to fight the best because we are here at the top level and I’m not here to fight anybody that’s below that level,” Nery stated during a press conference Thursday at Michelob ULTRA Arena. “I don’t dodge anybody. They presented Carlos to me and I wasn’t about to dodge him, so I accepted him and I’m ready. He’s actually the third consecutive undefeated fighter that I’m going up against. And I’m excited.”

Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, knocked out Nery (31-1, 24 KOs) with a left uppercut to the body during the seventh round to win the WBC 122-pound championship from him May 15 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Judge Zachary Young had Figueroa in front 58-56 at the time of the stoppage, though judge Lou Moret scored five of the first six rounds for Nery (59-55) and judge Edward Hernandez Sr. had it even through its scheduled halfway point (57-57).

In his previous appearance, Nery defeated another Mexican southpaw, Aaron Alameda (26-2, 14 KOs), by unanimous decision in what was a very competitive 12-rounder in September 2020 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

 Castro (27-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Colombia’s Oscar Escandon (26-6, 18 KOs) in the 10th round of his most recent bout. The 27-year-old contender was ahead on all three scorecards – 88-83, 87-84 and 87-84 – when he knocked Escandon to the canvas in the 10th round and stopped him on the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas undercard August 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“We shall see on Saturday if he can withstand my power or not,” Nery said. “I have studied him closely. He’s a great fighter and it remains to be seen whatever happens on Saturday. … But styles make fights. I think that his style goes with my style. And I’m gonna do whatever I can to come out with my hand [raised] Saturday night.”

Castro-Nery will be the first of three undercard fights FOX Sports will air as part of its Thurman-Barrios pay-per-view show (9 p.m. ET; $74.95).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.