Photos: Luis Nery, Jason Canoy - Ready For War in Mexico

By Rafael Soto

On Saturday night, at 11 p.m. ET from the Gasmart Stadium in Tijuana, Mexico, former WBC bantamweight world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (26-0, 20 KOs) will fight Jason “Dillinger” Canoy (27-8-2, 19 KOs) in a scheduled 12-rounder for the vacant WBC silver bantamweight title. In the co-feature, Kenia Enriquez (20-1, 9 KOs) will defend her interim WBC light flyweight world title against 19-year-old knockout artist Norleidys Graterol (7-0, 7 KOs).

WEIGHTS FROM TIJUANA

Luis Nery 118 lbs             Jason Canoy 118 lbs

Kenia Enríquez 108 lbs    Norleidys Graterol 108 lbs

Omar Aguilar   140 lbs     Carlos A. Zatarain 140.2  lbs

Julio C. Martínez 114 lbs         Víctor Ruiz 112 lbs

Endry Saavedra 163 lbs   Gabriel López  163lbs

Albert Ramírez 175 lbs    Juan J. Rosales 174 lbs

Elwin Soto 110 lbs          Omar Martínez 110 lbs

Paulette Valenzuela 115 lbs     Jacqueline Mucio 115 lbs

Nery, a southpaw power puncher, is returning to action following a pair of controversies. He won the WBC bantamweight title in August 2017 with a devastating fourth-round stoppage against longtime champion Shinsuke Yamanaka, but tested positive for the banned substance zilpaterol.

Nery claimed contaminated meat was the cause of the positive test, and he served a six-month WBC-mandated suspension. Following a knockout victory against Arthur Villanueva, he met Yamanaka in a rematch for the vacant WBC bantamweight world title in March.

He missed the bantamweight limit by three pounds and knocked out Yamanaka in the second round.

Nery, only 23 years old, returns to action intent on recapturing bantamweight world championship glory. Canoy, from Balamban, Cebu, Philippines, is coming off a closely contested unanimous decision loss to Hiroaki Teshigawara in February for the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title.

A 10-year pro, Canoy has never been knocked out as a professional. Nery, meanwhile, is riding a seven-bout knockout streak.