WBC orders rematch of Yamanaka-Nery bout over drug test

This photo taken on August 15, 2017 shows Mexican challenger Luis Nery (L) fighting against Japan’s Shinsuke Yamanaka (R) during their WBC bantamweight title match at the Shimadzu Arena in Kyoto.
Nery won with a fourth-round knockout. / AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS / STR / Japan OUT

TOKYO — The World Boxing Council has ordered a rematch between Japanese boxer Shinsuke Yamanaka and Luis Nery for the bantamweight title three months after the Mexican failed a drug test.

Nery denied Yamanaka a 13th straight title defense on Aug. 15 in Kyoto.

A week after the bout, the WBC announced that Nery failed a drug test performed in the lead-up to the fight with an amount of the banned substance and stimulant Zilpaterol detected. The findings were from Nery’s
“A” sample taken July 27, but additional tests taken in Japan gave negative results.

The WBC issued a statement Wednesday saying “Based on the evidence the WBC examined concerning this matter, the WBC cannot make a determination with sufficient certainty as to whether Mr. Nery’s adverse finding was the result of intentional ingestion of a banned substance to improve performance. All information and facts lead to conclude that the adverse finding was due to consumption of contaminated food products.”