Declared winner by unanimous decision of the judges against David Picasso, Naoya Inoue retains his four super bantamweight world championship belts and remains undefeated in 32 fights. But Junto Nakatani could undermine this dominance in the future.
Naoya Inoue remains the boss at super bantamweight. In the ring installed in Riyadh, “The Monster” successfully defended his four world championship belts in the category. For this, he got the better of David Picasso in a fight between undefeated boxers whose outcome quickly became no mystery despite the twelve contested rounds. Highlight of the “Night of the Samurais” organized in the Saudi capital, this clash saw Naoya Inoue, title holder for the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF, impose his pace to the Mexican after a balanced first round.
He brought the audience at the Mohammed Abdo Arena to their feet by placing several sequences of shots that were too fast for David Picasso. After twelve three-minute repeats, the scorecard of the three judges was final for a unanimous decision (119-109, 120-108 and 117-111). A 32nd victory for as many professional fights which allows Naoya Inoue to remain the undisputed world champion in the category. All under the eyes of a certain Oleksandr Usyk, who could take the title of boxer of the year 2025. This meeting organized in Riyadh allowed another Japanese fighter to demonstrate his worth.
Nakatani asserts himself in the category
After being world champion at flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight, Junto Nakatani didn’t miss his super bantamweight debut. Opposed to the Mexican Sebastian Hernandez, the Japanese had to struggle to win on points (115-113, 115-113 and 118-110) after twelve rounds. Which allows him to remain undefeated in his career with 32 victories in as many fights in all categories. An introduction which should allow the boxer nicknamed “Big Bang” to quickly obtain a world chance against his compatriot Naoya Inoue. A fight which could be organized sometime in 2026 and which has the potential to rewrite the hierarchy in the super bantamweight category.
