On the eve of a career-defining stretch, boxing's most dominant and least revealing superstar offers almost nothing — and somehow says everything.
Naoya Inoue’s gaze feels like it’s cutting straight through the screen. Sitting upright with textbook posture, the undisputed 122-pound champion pairs a sleek, black leather jacket with a simple black tee, a slim gold chain dangling down to his sternum.
His striking blonde hair catches the eye, but it barely softens the intensity of his presence.
Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) has been tasked with fielding questions from a small cluster of boxing media ahead of his bout this Saturday night against David Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs) — and he looks far from thrilled about it.
The 32-year-old — Uncrowned's No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport — puts his undisputed super bantamweight titles on the line against his Mexican challenger as a prohibitive 1/25 favorite (-2500 with BetMGM) atop Saturday's Japan vs. the world card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event is widely viewed as a stepping stone toward something much bigger.
Provided Inoue emerges unscathed, the plan points toward Junto Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) next year. Nakatani — Uncrowned's No. 6 pound-for-pound fighter — also features on this weekend’s card, taking on Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs), with an all-Japanese superfight at Tokyo Dome in May 2026 already being whispered about in confident tones.
Inoue and his team run a tight ship when it comes to time. I’m shepherded into the call with the four-weight world champion within a narrow, pre-agreed window, flanked by eight other unseen voices and no fewer than two translators acting as conduits.
I lead with a gentle opener, asking what Picasso brings to the table as an opponent. It’s a deliberate soft touch. Everyone on the line knows the wider narrative is already racing ahead to a potential Nakatani showdown next year, but courtesy — and context — demand the Mexican challenger gets his moment.
“All fighters are different,” Inoue replies, unwilling to divulge any further. “So I have to prepare differently.”
This will be Inoue’s fourth outing of 2025, underlining his status as the most active elite champion in the sport. He hasn’t operated at this kind of pace since 2013. Victories over Ye Joon Kim, Ramon Cardenas and Murodjon Akhmadaliev have only reinforced his grip on the pound-for-pound conversation — but the obvious question lingers: Has such a relentless schedule begun to take a physical toll?
“My body condition is perfect at the moment,” he explains. “Not many fighters can fight as often as me, but I still realize that it’s more important to fight well, than often. I don’t believe that I have reached my peak physicality yet — this will be in 2026 or 2027.”
It’s a scary thought.
Since turning professional in 2012, Inoue has torn through four weight classes with ruthless efficiency. Pressure, precision, concussive power and a frightening ring IQ have combined to produce 27 stoppages from 31 wins. Even the suggestion that the “Monster” can improve further is enough to send a collective shiver through the division.
Which brings us neatly to Junto Nakatani. From Saturday night onward, the 27-year-old southpaw will officially call super bantamweight home. The question isn’t whether his arrival matters — it does — but whether it registers on the radar of the division’s long-reigning ruler.
“I am not going to watch Junto’s fight,” Inoue flatly states. “I will just be focusing on my fight. At this moment I can’t concentrate on anything else.”
It’s an easy answer, and a predictable one, but it’s unsatisfying all the same. Inoue — much like Japanese fighters before him — has always found it difficult to truly cut through into the wider mainstream beyond his homeland, and with such an absorbing superfight looming on the horizon, it feels as though this is the moment to squeeze every last drop from the attention available.
Yet that’s simply not Inoue’s way. For close to a decade he’s reaped the rewards of being a bona fide cash cow in Japan without ever needing to bare his soul to the media. Publicly reserved to the point of shyness, he’s far more comfortable when speaking in his native tongue — and even then, those around him say his openness has only ever increased on his own terms.
But with a little prodding Inoue is at least willing to acknowledge the existence of Nakatani and the impact a fight with his countryman could have on the sport. Would it be the biggest combat event Japan has ever seen?
“Yes, I believe so,” he agrees. And who would receive the bulk of the support from a nation that has been under the spell of both men for years? “We have different fans across the country.”
Inoue’s stare hardens as the seconds bleed away on our tightly rationed time. A gentle but persistent nudge comes from the unseen handlers to bring things to a close, leaving just enough room to prise a final soundbite from a man carved from granite.
He offers two concessions: Both he and Nakatani will do their jobs on Saturday night, before explaining that he believes, without question, that he is the No. 1 fighter on the planet — ahead of Oleksandr Usyk and the now-retired Terence Crawford.
But beyond Dec. 27, the shutters come back down — no forecasts, no fireworks, just the quiet certainty of a champion who prefers to let his fists do the talking.
Category: General Sports
