Mexico's boxer David Picasso (L) fights Japan's boxer Naoya Inoue in the "The Ring V night of Samurai" final major fight card of the year at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh on December 27, 2025. (Photo by Fayez NURELDINE / AFP)
Riyadh: Japan's unbeaten Naoya Inoue beat Mexico's Alan Picasso by unanimous decision in Riyadh on Saturday to pave the way for a mouthwatering potential showdown with countryman Junto Nakatani.
Inoue gave another performance befitting his "Monster" nickname in his first fight in Saudi Arabia to successfully defend his undisputed world super-bantamweight titles for the sixth time.
But it was not enough to knock out the gritty Picasso, as Inoue settled for a unanimous decision win for the second fight in a row.
Inoue's victory set up an expected meeting in Tokyo next year with Nakatani, who beat Mexico's Sebastian Hernandez by unanimous decision earlier on the same card in his super-bantamweight debut.
The 32-year-old Inoue took his record to 32 wins, 27 by knockout, in his fourth fight of 2025.
He had a height disadvantage of 8cm against Picasso, who also went into the fight with an unbeaten record, which included one draw among 32 wins.
Inoue's superior class began to tell from the opening bell, with the champion landing a series of hard shots in the early rounds.
Inoue wobbled Picasso with another concussive salvo at the start of the sixth round, before the Mexican finally began to come out of his shell and land a few punches of his own.
Picasso dug in to take the fight past the 12th and final round, although the judges' decision was by then a foregone conclusion.
It was the second straight fight that Inoue had been taken the distance, following his unanimous decision win over Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September.
Nakatani was given a tough lesson in the realities of the super-bantamweight division in his bout against Hernandez.
The 27-year-old Japanese fighter looked comfortable in the first half of the fight but Hernandez refused to be beaten and slugged his way back into contention.
Nakatani did just enough to get the decision and take his unbeaten record to 32 wins with 24 knockouts.
He said the fight had been "an experience" and targeted a bout against Inoue for his next outing.
"I moved up to this division to win world titles, so if I get that chance then I want to take it," said Nakatani.
