Luis Nery and Frank Sanchez return to winning ways in Mexico

Luis Nery bounced back from his loss to Naoya Inoue on Saturday, stopping Kyonosuke Kameda in the seventh round at the Municipal Auditorium in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.

Nery, 36-2 (28 KOs), dropped Kameda, 15-4-2 (9 KOs), twice in the seventh round, compelling the corner to throw in the towel which was accepted by the referee at 2:23.

The first knockdown came after a left uppercut to the body caused the Osaka, Japan native to stumble in the corner, with a series of follow-up punches sending him to the floor. Kameda was game, if also bloodied and bruised from the steady punishment from Nery, and fought back valiantly against the nonstop assault from the harder puncher. Kameda was sent down for a second time from a flurry along the ropes, and was unsteady on his feet, at which point his cornerman stepped on to the ring apron to end the fight.

The two embraced after the fight, putting behind them an ugly build-up which saw Nery attempt to punch Kameda at the press conference.

The win puts the 30-year-old Nery, a former two-time bantamweight champion, back into the win column after he was stopped in six rounds by Naoya Inoue last May in Tokyo. 

Kameda, who was fighting outside of Japan for the first time as a pro, loses for the first time in nine fights, ending a winning streak that extended over two years.

The card was broadcast on ESPN Knock out across Latin America, and on TV Azteca in the United States.

Not on the broadcast was the ring return of Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez, 25-1 (18 KOs), who rebounded from his first career defeat with a third round stoppage of Ramon Olivas Echeverria, 18-25 (12 KOs). Olivas, 33, is best remembered for being the fighter who fought former Mexican politician turned reality star Jorge Kahwagi in an obvious fixed fight in the Philippines which became an immediate viral video.

Sanchez, 32, was fighting for the first time since his seventh round knockout loss to Agit Kabayel in May of 2018.