Ryosuke Nishida managed to arrive at the scale as the bigger man despite his facing a natural junior featherweight.
The former IBF 118lbs titlist Nishida was a shade under the 122lbs limit for his showdown versus Mexico City’s Bryan Mercado, who was significantly lighter during Saturday’s official pre-fight weigh-in. Nishida tipped the scales at 121.9lbs, while Mercado was a fit and trim 120.8lbs – his lightest weight in more than a decade – for Sunday’s IBF junior featherweight title eliminator.
U-Next will stream their fight (exclusively in Japan) live from Sumiyoshi Sports Center in Nishida’s hometown of Osaka, Japan.
Mercado, 32-1 (26 KOs), is entering Sunday’s contest at his lightest weight since his second pro contest – which, ironically, marked his lone career defeat. A 30-year-old Mexico City native, Mercado has rattled off 31 consecutive victories since then, including knockout victories in 11 of his past 12 contests.
Heading in the opposite direction, Nishida, 10-1 (2 KOs), came in at his heaviest weight in more than five years.
He has regularly campaigned at bantamweight, where he held the IBF title beginning with his May 2024 points victory over Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez. Just one successful defense followed before he suffered a sixth-round stoppage against unbeaten countryman Junto Nakatani, 31-0 (24 KOs), in their WBC/IBF unification bout last June 8 at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo.
That fight turned out to be the last at bantamweight for both boxers.
Nakatani moved up to 122lbs last December, when he earned a narrow victory over previously unbeaten Sebastian Hernandez, 20-1 (18 KOs), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout served as part of Riyadh Season’s “Japan vs. the World” show, topped by Naoya Inoue’s victory over Alan David Picasso in defense of his undisputed 122lbs championship.
Plans are now on track for Inoue and Nakatani to meet on May 2, though the date has yet to be formally announced as this story goes to publication.
Nevertheless, the winner of Sunday’s bout between Nishida and Mercado will become the IBF mandatory to whomever prevails – Inoue or Nakatani – in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.
