Naoya Inoue Adds a New Challenge to His Impeccable Career
The renowned Japanese boxer, Naoya Inoue, continues his whirlwind 2025 with a new fight scheduled. A few days after successfully defending his undisputed super bantamweight championship against Murodjon Akhmadaliev, “The Monster” is preparing for a new challenge.
Inoue will face Mexican Alan David Picasso on December 27 at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This fight will be part of the “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai” event.
In the co-main event, Junto Nakatani will defend his WBC and IBF world bantamweight titles against Sebastian Hernandez.
If they win their respective fights, Inoue and Nakatani would face each other in an anticipated duel in 2026.
Inoue, with an undefeated record of 31-0 and 27 knockouts, has had a frenetic activity this year, similar to his professional beginnings in 2013. In 2025, he has defeated Ki Ye-Joon, Ramon Cardenas and Akhmadaliev, and now seeks to add Picasso to his list of victories. Picasso, with a record of 32-0-1 and 17 knockouts, comes from winning by majority decision against Kyonosuke Kameda in July.
Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) has had two fights in 2025, defeating Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar Contreras. He has expressed his desire to face Inoue and will have the opportunity if he manages to overcome Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs).
