Luis Nery was once again in the room when trouble called.

The former two-division titlist nearly came to blows with Japan’s Kyonosuke Kameda during their kickoff press conference on Monday ahead of their Feb. 22 meeting in Tijuana, Mexico.

An obligatory stare down for the cameras quickly turned ugly, as they had to be separated on stage. Kameda made a point to get directly in Nery’s face as the two were forehead-to-forehead. Tijuana’s Nery placed his fists on a masked Kameda’s chest in an effort to create space between the two.

When that didn’t work, Nery foolishly swung an overhand left and a right hook. Both were dodged by Kameda, who pulled down his bandana and dared Nery to try it again. The two were immediately separated, but event handlers had to further discourage an enraged Kameda from hurling a chair that he picked up and simulated to use as a weapon.

The incident came after a contentious press conference, though never to the point where it expected to get physical.

Kameda (15-3-2, 9 KOs) vowed that Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) wasn’t ready for what the visiting 26-year-old featherweight had to offer ahead of his first fight outside of Japan. Naturally, the claim fell on deaf ears.

“A fighter with 15 wins, three losses and only nine knockouts,” scoffed Nery, The Ring’s No. 4 junior featherweight contender and a former RING/WBC bantamweight champion. “You [aren’t] much.”

The Tijuana southpaw has not fought since his challenge of The Ring/undisputed 122-pound king Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) last May 6 at the famed Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue was forced to overcome the first knockdown of his career to score three of his own in a sixth-round knockout win.

Nery was lauded for his ability to floor Inoue but disappointed in himself for not leaving Japan with The Ring and undisputed junior featherweight championship in tow. The setback snapped a four-fight win streak.

Kameda will hit the road for the first time in his six-year career and carries a nine-fight unbeaten streak into his first trip abroad.