An upcoming event involving ‘Pantera’, the 31-year-old two-weight world boxing champion, Luis Nery, has been nixed and it gives credence to unified heavyweight king Oleksandr Uysk recently saying his Pyramids of Giza spectacle alongside the kickboxing icon Rico Verhoeven could be moved from Egypt.
39-fight veteran Nery, who has run a gauntlet in the lighter weight classes having shared the ring with Shinsuke Yamanake (twice), Brandon Figueroa, Naoya Inoue, and Kyonosuke Kameda, was set to fight John Riel Casimero as part of a three-day fight series in Kyrgyzstan, but, as reported by Bad Left Hook, the events havebeen postponed because of “international instability.”
As BLH notes, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, in which United States and Israel are at war with Iran, has caused infrastructure damage, travel complications, and civilian death, among other issues.
It may not even be the only casualty of the war, either, and validates Usyk’s mention of a Plan B for his own showdown with Verhoeven.
Boxing financier Turki Alalshikh and Ring Magazine announced in February that Usyk will defend his unified titles against Verhoeven on Saturday, May 23 in Egypt, on DAZN. Though Verhoeven is regarded as one of the all-time great fighters in kickboxing, he has only ever boxed once, and that was 12 years ago. Regardless, the fight will go ahead but perhaps not in Giza.
“The team is 100% looking at plan B,” Usyk is quoted by Suspline Sport to have said in Ukrainian, as previously reported by Boxing Social.
The US Department of State currently advises Americans worldwide “and especially in the Middle East to exercise increased caution.” For Egypt, specifically, the US has a “Level 2” warning which means “exercise increased caution due to terrorism, crime, and health.” The UK government also warns of “heightened risk of regional tension” on its travel page for Egypt.
Usyk, at least, tries to not “think about” the location, even if the site for the world heavyweight title fight changes. “I know I have to train, and if anything happens, the team tells me, and I don’t get nervous,” he said. “I just pray and that’s it.”
Alalshikh, too, spoke this week on the war.
“I am very busy with other stuff,” he said, in response to reporter Michael Woods’s post on X asking if the deal-maker was losing interest in boxing.
“Thank God my country is safe and we are happy, even when we are close to war,” Alalshikh said. “Missile and drones coming to my country each day.”
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