Inoue to headline vs. Picasso in Riyadh on 'Night of the Samurai'
Show will feature top Japanese fighters against the world, including Junto Nakatani, who looms as 2026 challenger for 'The Monster'
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Days after Naoya Inoue retained the undisputed junior featherweight title on Sunday his next fight was made official on Thursday.
As expected, Inoue will defend the 122-pound crown against Alan David Picasso in the main event of “Ring V: Night of the Samurai” on Dec. 27 (DAZN) at Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and owner of The Ring magazine, announced.
The card will feature some of Japan’s top boxers taking on fighters from other countries.
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“A day when Japan's greatest boxers gather together. A spectacular event hailed as the greatest Japanese card in history,” Alalshikh said. “The night of the strongest Japanese boxing lineup ever assembled, with fighters who have never gathered on the same card before, and a special night to celebrate the friendship between Saudi Arabia and Japan that has lasted for over 70 years.
“The event unites champions from Japan against top global contenders in battles of honor, legacy, and pride.”
Inoue will be joined on the card by other top Japanese fighters Junto Nakatani, a three-division titleholder, who looms as a 2026 Inoue challenger, and two-division titlist Kenshiro Teraji as well as three prospects, brothers Hayato and Reito Tsutsumi and Taiga Imanaga.
With Nakatani watching at ringside on Sunday at IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan, pound-for-pound star Inoue made his sixth defense — fifth of the undisputed title — in dominating fashion en route to a unanimous decision over WBA interim titlist and mandatory challenger Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev (14-2, 11 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Uzbekistan.
Many thought Akhmadaliev, a former unified titleholder, would give “The Monster” his toughest test but he plowed though him with ease, winning 118-110, 118-110 and 117-111.
Four-division champion Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs), 32, who advanced to 26-0 in 26 consecutive world title bouts, won for the third time this year and will fight for a fourth time — rare for an elite fighter — when he faces Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs), 25, of Mexico, who has fought once so far this year, a 10-round majority decision over Japan’s Kyonosuke Kameda on July 19 in Las Vegas.
Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), a 27-year-old southpaw, who has won titles at flyweight, junior bantamweight and bantamweight, went 5-0 at bantamweight, winning each bout by knockout. He unified the WBC and IBF titles and made four overall defenses. But ahead of his fight in Riyadh, he has vacated the 118-pound belts and is moving up to 122 to join Inoue in the division.
If they both win it is likely they will meet in 2026 in perhaps the biggest all-Japanese fight in history.
First, Nakatani will face Sebastian Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs), 24, a Mexico native fighting out of San Diego.
IBF junior bantamweight titlist Willibaldo Garcia (23-6-2, 13 KOs), 35, of Mexico, who won the vacant belt by split decision in a rematch of a draw against Rene Calixto on May 23, will make his first defense against Teraji, the former unified WBC/WBA flyweight champion and a two-time WBC junior flyweight titlist.
Teraji (25-2, 16 KOs), 33, unified the two flyweight belts by 12th-round knockout of countryman Seigo Yuri Akui in a hellacious fight of the year contender on March 13. In his next fight on July 30, American Ricardo Sandoval traveled to Yokohama, Japan, and won a split decision to take the belts from Teraji, who will move up to junior bantamweight to challenge Garcia.
Also on the card, James “Jazza” Dickens (36-5, 15 KOs), 34, a southpaw from England, will make his first defense of the WBA interim junior lightweight title against Hayato Tsutsumi (8-0, 5 KOs), 26. Dickens won the interim belt by major upset in a fourth-round knockout of 2020 Russian Olympic gold medalist Albert Batyrgaziev on July 2 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Lightweight Imanaga (9-0, 5 KOs), a 26-year-old southpaw, will face Armando Martinez (16-0, 15 KOs), 30, a Miami-based Cuban, and junior featherweight Reito Tsutsumi (3-0, 2 KOs), 23, also a southpaw, will fight Leobardo Quintana (11-1, 5 KOs), 23, of Mexico.
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Inoue photo: Naoki Fukuda
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“A day when Japan's greatest boxers gather together. A spectacular event hailed as the greatest Japanese card in history,” ..... in Saudia Arabia. Tko barred fans and journalists from the wrestlemania 43 announcement (that it will be in Saudia Arabia) because they didn't want it booed. Or turkey didn't want it booed...
Much appreciated Dan! Picasso is interesting. I was breakdown his last fight and he had some fun patterns. But what is really interesting the fact that he study neuroscience. Keep rockin’. 🤘