The Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh plays host to world title action this Saturday, and in the main event, undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue defends his wealth of gold against unbeaten Mexican Alan Picasso.
DAZN televise Inoue vs Picasso live on pay-per-view.
Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) is one of the pound-for-pound stars of the sport, and after reigns as light flyweight and super flyweight, he became undisputed bantamweight champion in December 2022, knocking Paul Butler out to win the WBO belt and complete the collection of belts in 11 rounds.
A move to super bantamweight followed, and ‘The Monster’ was undisputed champion two fights later, adding the WBA and IBF crowns to his WBC and WBO straps by knocking Marlon Tapales out in eight.
He has defended five times since, including having to come off the canvas against Ramon Cardenas in May before scoring an eighth-round stoppage win.
The 32-year-old was last out in September, winning widely on points against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in his native Japan.
Picasso (32-0-1, KO17) is an unheralded fighter that has only been the championship distance once, but he is unbeaten, and will be coming to secure one of the biggest upsets in recent history.
The 25-year-old’s last assignment came in Las Vegas in July, taking a majority decision against Kyonosuke Kameda over 10 rounds.
Prediction: Inoue has looked complacent at times in recent fights, but I expect him to be fully focused here with big fights on the horizon, and he can stop Picasso around the halfway mark in this one.
Nakatani meets Reyes
The undercard sees a man hoping to be on a collision course with Inoue in 2026, as unified bantamweight world champion, Junto Nakatani makes a debut at 122 pounds against Sebastian Hernandez Reyes.
Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) has put in some eye-catching displays in the past couple of years, beginning with a final round knockout of Andrew Moloney for the vacant WBO super flyweight title in May 2023.
After one defence, the 27-year-old then won the WBC bantamweight title, widely outscoring Argi Cortes, and four straight early wins followed in defence of that belt.
The Japanese southpaw added the IBF strap to his collection in June, forcing Ryosuke Nishida to retire after six rounds of their battle in Tokyo.
Mexico’s Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs) has never been past ten rounds, and has only completed that distance once, in his last contest, a clear points win over the faded Azat Hovhannisyan in May.
Prediction: Nakatani is heavy-handed, and will want to impress in order to secure a 2026 superfight. He can take victory inside the first half here.
Teraji clashes with Perez
The IBF super flyweight title is also at stake on the card, and I expect Kenshiro Teraji (25-2, 16 KOs) to become the new champion after losing his WBC flyweight title in his last outing, and he can take a points win over the battle-hardened Willibaldo Garcia Perez (23-6-2, 13 KOs).
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Remaining Undercard
The sole 10-rounder is at lightweight, where Taiga Imanaga (9-0, 5 KOs) can become the second fighter to halt Eridson Garcia (22-1, 14 KOs), who has won five on the spin since a one-round loss to Jordan White in 2023.
In a super bantamweight six-rounder, Reito Tsutsumi (3-0, 2 KOs) can get the better of Leobardo Quintana Sanchez (12-1, 5 KOs) on points.
