Inoue, Nakatani win to set up 2026 megafight

"Japanese boxing rivals Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani set up one of the biggest fights for 2026 after both registered wins on Saturday. Undisputed junior featherweight champion Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) outclassed David Picasso to win by unanimous scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 117-111 at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Earlier, Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs) made a victorious debut at junior featherweight but endured the toughest fight of his career to prevail by a unanimous points decision (115-113, 115-113 and 118-110) over Sebastian Hernandez. Inoue vs. Nakatani will be the biggest ever fight in Japanese boxing history, and will see two of the world's best pound-for-pound fighters, both unbeaten, face each other for Inoue's 122-pounds title belts."

"It was not quite a masterpiece from Inoue vs. Picasso, as it lacked a knockout finish, but his dominant win sets up the first megafight of 2026. It remains to be seen whether English heavyweight rivals Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, former world champions, will face each other after five years of attempts, speculation and unfulfilled agreements. Inoue, 32, a world champion in four weight classes, made a seventh junior featherweight title defense as he consistently beat Picasso to the punch and repeatedly targeted the body. Inoue has shown a vulnerability in recent fights - he recovered from knock downs in two of his previous five fights -- but his speed, skill and power were levels above Picasso in his fourth fight this year."

"I wasn't very happy about my performance, I could have done much better, so I will learn from this and be much better next time,"

Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani both recorded victories that position them for a major 2026 matchup. Inoue dominated David Picasso by wide unanimous scores while defending his junior featherweight titles. Nakatani won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Sebastian Hernandez in his junior featherweight debut. Inoue remains unbeaten at 32-0 with 27 KOs and has seven defenses at the division, though recent fights have shown some vulnerability. Nakatani is also unbeaten at 32-0 with 24 KOs. The matchup will be the largest fight in Japanese boxing history and features two top pound-for-pound fighters.

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