Naoya Inoue Secures His Fourth Fight of the Year
The undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue, has confirmed his fourth fight of the year, a few days after successfully defending his title against Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Inoue will 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 Junto Nakatani defending 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 (31-0, 27 KOs), who secured a unanimous decision over Akhmadaliev last Sunday, hadn’t had so much activity since 2013, the second year of his professional career. In 2025, he has defeated Ki Ye-Joon, Ramon Cardenas, and Ahkmadaliev, and now seeks to add Picasso to his list of victories. Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs) last fought in July, winning a majority decision over Kyonosuke Kameda in a ten-round bout.
Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) has fought twice in 2025, achieving technical knockout victories over Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar Contreras. He has actively sought a match with Inoue and will have his opportunity if he manages to defeat Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs).
