Juarez vs Nery Predictions: La Poderosa comes back to take what is hers

Lourdes Juarez makes the first defence of her WBC light flyweight title this Saturday, October 18 against Yesica Nery Plata. The fight headlines at the South Padre Island Convention Center in Texas with DAZN broadcasting the event on pay-per-view.

Here are my Juarez vs Nery predictions ahead of this title tussle.

Juarez vs Nery Odds

The champion Juarez is the outsider at 23/10 to win this bout. Nery Plata is 2/5 to win back a title she never lost in the ring while you can back the draw at 14/1.

Juarez vs Nery Fight Preview

Say what you like about Jake Paul, and your humble servant says more about him than most, but one thing the pensioner-pounding peacock has got right is his work with female boxers. Most Valuable Promotions has tirelessly signed and spotlighted some of the best women in the game. Saturday night sees one of those recent additions debut under the MVP banner.

Plata had the world at her feet in December 2023 and not because she had stock options in Santa’s Grotto. The Mexican was the unified WBA and WBC light flyweight champion, having won the belts from champions Yesica Bopp and Kim Clavel. Plata capped off two years of glory with a Yuletide defence against Sarah Bormann, winning a decision in Germany. 

Talk turned to a battle with WBO/IBF queen Evelyn Nazarena Bermudez to crown an undisputed champion. The bout had been a long time in the making, with Plata supposed to box her fellow unified champion after the Clavel fight. It would be moved off the agenda entirely as Plata suffered almost two years of inactivity for unspecified reasons.

That period saw Plata stripped of both her WBA and WBC championships. The latter was picked up by Juarez, who claimed the green and gold with a points win over Yesenia Gomez last November. ‘La Pequena Lulu’ retained her new prize against Mirna Sanchez via ninth-round TKO in March. Now she defends the title against a woman who never lost it in the ring.

Intriguingly, the Bermudez fight is still possible for Plata. The Argentine remains the WBO and IBF champion and has actually added Plata’s stripped WBA title to her mantelpiece. Bermudez took that from Canada’s Sara Bailey, the promoted ‘regular’ champ when Plata’s belt was declared vacant.

Same goal, different day for Plata. The ultimate endpoint remains unchanged. But Juarez will be keen to prove the division has changed in her fellow Mexican’s absence. It is one hell of a fight to take in your first bout back.

Juarez has also held the WBC super flyweight title, managing three defences of that honour before two hotly-contested decision losses, one split and one majority, to Asley Gonzalez Macias. 

Plata is a mammoth task in Juarez’s second defence of this light flyweight crown. Her pedigree is writ large when you consider that her two most recent opponents, Clavel and Bormann, have both since won world titles after losing to Plata. The Mexican was beating world-level operators left and right.

If Plata wins this fight, she will have done so again. It is an immense level of competition she keeps winning at. But Juarez has fought three times since we last saw the woman who will challenge her on Saturday night. Will that ring-freshness play a major part? That’s why we have the fights.

Juarez vs Plata Full Card

Lourdes Juarez vs Yesica Nery Plata

Omar Juarez vs Omar Rosario

Desley Robinson vs Logan Holler

Shurretta Metcalf vs Krystal Rosado-Ortiz

Yolanda Guadalupe Vega Ochoa vs Miranda Reyes

Ronny Alvarez vs Bruno Pola Ruiz

Alexis Chaparro vs David Gutierrez Garcia

Sebastian Juarez vs Demarcus Layton

Pedro Veitia vs Xavier Lehi Zuniga Ceron

Alexander Gueche vs Jaden Burnias

Reggie Ray Martinez vs Edgar Rosales

Juarez vs Plata Prediction

If the version of Plata that was picking off champs with precision is the one we see on Saturday, I think she’ll coast home. If there is an ounce of ring rust to be found, I do think Juarez finds it.

But until shown otherwise, I back fighters on ability. Plata at her best is a world class boxer and I think she will take this one at 2/5.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.