Naoya Inoue announces his next fight: He faces Alan David Picasso in Saudi Arabia
The undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue, continues his rapid pace in 2025, securing his fourth fight of the year. After a successful title defense against Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Inoue is preparing to face Mexican Alan David Picasso on December 27 at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The event, called “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai”, will also feature the participation of Junto Nakatani, who will put his WBC and IBF bantamweight world titles on the line against Sebastian Hernandez.
The widespread expectation is that, should Inoue and Nakatani be victorious in their respective fights, an epic showdown between the two will materialize in 2026.
Inoue, with an impeccable record of 31-0 and 27 knockouts, demonstrated his superiority over Akhmadaliev last Sunday, obtaining a unanimous decision victory. This level of activity had not been seen since 2013, just a year after the start of his professional career.
So far in 2025, Inoue has defeated Ki Ye-Joon, Ramón Cárdenas, and Akhmadaliev, and now seeks to add Picasso to his list of victims. Picasso, also undefeated with a record of 32-0-1 and 17 knockouts, is coming off a majority decision win against Kyonosuke Kameda in July, after a ten-round fight.
Nakatani, with a record of 31-0 and 24 knockouts, has had two fights in 2025, achieving victories by stoppage against Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar Contreras. He has expressed his desire to face Inoue and will have the opportunity to do so if he manages to defeat Hernández, who also remains undefeated (20-0, 18 KOs).
