Luis Nery and Brandon Figueroa sensed a head-on collision was in their future after posting wins on the same show in their most recent respective bouts. Tijuana’s Nery (31-0, 24KOs) became a two-division titlist after outpointing countryman Aaron Alameda over 12-rounds in their vacant WBC junior featherweight title fight. The win was the first for Nery at the title level since his 2nd round knockout of Japan’s Shinsuke Yamanaka in their March 2018 rematch. The feat came seven months after dethroning the previously unbeaten Yamanaka via a 4th round knockout in Aug. 2017.