Japanese boxing rivals Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani had one of the biggest fights of 2026 after both recorded victories on Saturday.
Undisputed junior featherweight champion Inoue (32-0, 27 KO) outclassed David Picasso to win by unanimous scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 117-111 at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.
Previously, Nakatani (32-0, 24 KO) won the junior featherweight division, but he fought the hardest fight of his career to win by unanimous decision (115-113, 115-113 and 118-110) over Sebastian Hernandez.
Inoue vs. Nakatani will be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history as two of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters, both undefeated, will face each other for Inoue’s 122-pound championship belts.
It wasn’t a masterpiece of Inoue vs. Picasso as it lacked a knockout, but his dominant victory set up the first megafight of 2026. Time will tell whether English heavyweight rivals Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, former world champions, will face each other after five years of trials, speculation and unfulfilled agreements.
Inoue, 32, a world champion in four weight classes, defended his junior featherweight title for the seventh time, consistently beating Picasso and repeatedly targeting the body.
Inoue has shown himself to be vulnerable in recent fights – he has recovered from knockdowns in two of his five previous fights – but in his fourth fight this year, his speed, skill and strength were superior to Picasso.
“I wasn’t very ecstatic with my performance, I could have done much better, so I will learn from it and do much better next time,” Inoue said later.
Yokohama’s Inoue had to wrap his arms twice, but that didn’t distract him as he quickly gained momentum. Inoue landed a variety of punches, landing a flurry of combinations on Picasso in the first three rounds. The Mexican challenger showed bursts of spirited aggression, but it was Inoue who was at his best throughout the 12 rounds.
Picasso (32-1-1, 17 KO), who impressively won a 10-round majority decision over Kyonosuke Kameda in July, has a degree in neuroscience, but it was Inoue who demonstrated a better ring IQ. Inoue hurt Picasso with a left to the body slow in round 6 when his hand speed still allowed him to comfortably defeat the challenger.
Picasso absorbed another crunch left in the body in round 8, and in the next round there were merciless attacks on the body. Picasso showed great fitness to survive 12 rounds with one of the best boxers in the world.
Nakatani will survive a tough fight against Hernandez
Thirteen-round world champion Nakatani of Kanagawa, who trains in Los Angeles, fought a brutal 12-round non-title fight that ended with his right eye swollen and closed.
Nakatani, who relinquished his bantamweight world titles in September, put up the toughest fight of his career against Hernandez’s relentless aggression and hefty punching. A draw would have been a fair result in a great co-main event, and Hernandez (20-1, 18 KO) even had a good case for the win.
“It was a great learning experience for me,” Nakatani said later.
“My opponent had a great fight, which allowed me to develop properly. I’m changing weight classes to target the world champion [Inoue] and if I get the chance, I will give it my all.”
It was a good year for 27-year-old Nakatani, who retained Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar Contreras in 2025.
Hernandez, originally from Mexico but based in San Diego, had an impressive knockout rate below world title level, but this performance showed he was good enough to win world titles.
Nakatani initially took control with a southpaw jab, then opened up more in round two when he landed a shaking left hook on the counter.
Nakatani landed a brilliant right uppercut slow in the 3rd period, and his counter punches were getting sharper. Hernandez applied effective pressure in the second half of the fourth round, but Nakatani continued to hit him with uppercuts.
Both landed multiple punches in a furious round 6, with the middle rounds being uncomfortable for Nakatani. Hernandez maintained his intensity and landed Nakatani as he marched and punched forward in the second half of the fight. Round 9 was close, with one of the scorecards looking harsh for Hernandez, who showed unquenchable fighting spirit.
IBF bantamweight world champion Willibaldo Garcia (23-6-2, 13 KO), a 36-year-old from Mexico, withdrew from defending his title on the eve of his fight with two-weight champion Kenshiro Teraji (25-2, 16 KO). Garcia was reportedly taken to the hospital after he fell ill following Friday’s weigh-in. It was not possible to find a replacement opponent for the Japanese Teraji fighter.
