Naoya Inoue Announces His Next Fight in Saudi Arabia
The undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue, continues his dominant year with a fourth scheduled fight. After successfully defending his title against Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Inoue is preparing to face Alan David Picasso from Mexico.
The confrontation will take place on December 27 at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the event “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai”.
The co-main event will see Junto Nakatani defend his WBC and IBF bantamweight titles against Sebastian Hernandez.
The expectation is that, if Inoue and Nakatani win their respective fights, they will face each other in an anticipated duel in 2026.
Inoue, with an undefeated record of 31-0 and 27 knockouts, has had remarkable activity, similar to his first year as a professional in 2013. This year, he has defeated Ki Ye-Joon, Ramon Cardenas, and Akhmadaliev, and now seeks to add Picasso to his list of victories. Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs) is coming off a majority decision victory over Kyonosuke Kameda in July.
Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) has had two fights this year, defeating Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar Contreras. He has expressed his desire to fight Inoue, and this opportunity could materialize if he defeats Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs).
