Naoya Inoue will compete in the coming days but the boxing world has been tipped off on what his final fight of 2025 will be. This was reported on by the senior insider of Ring Magazine Mike Coppinger for the Inside the Ring inaugural show. Per Coppinger, Inoue will defend his undisputed as well as Ring super bantamweight championship belts, predicated on if he emerges victorious in the coming days, versus David Picasso on December 27th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Also of note, an unbeaten three weight world champion will serve in the co-main event on that Inoue vs. Picasso card. Junto Nakatani is making a move up to the super bantamweight division that Inoue, as mentioned, looms large over and when making these announcements, Coppinger said [via DAZN],
“If Inoue wins as expected, he will defend his Ring Magazine championship December 27 against David Picasso. The co-main is going to be Junto Nakatani in Riyadh moving up to 122 [lbs], which puts him on a collision course for the fight we all want to see against Inoue, which could happen next summer in the Tokyo Dome [and] would be the biggest fight in Japanese history by a mile.”
Naoya Inoue’s in-ring assignment this weekend
Naoya Inoue does have some business to first take care of this weekend in Japan before the combat sports world can direct their focus to the looming Picasso fight. Inoue will throw down with Murodjon Akhmadaliev, which is a sweet science showdown that transpires in Tokyo on Sunday.
While Coppinger did refer to Akhmadaliev as “crafty” on the referenced Inside the Ring episode but in terms of who he thinks will emerge victorious this weekend in the land of the rising sun, Copping stated,
“Inoue is the best, you have to always pick Inoue.”
Also in 2026, it’s clear that building blocks are being set in place for, ideally, a Junto Nakatani versus Naoya Inoue clash. If that came together, it would be a massive domestic attraction and would be an incredible boxing bout that would captivate sweet science aficionados worldwide.
