Naoya Inoue vs Alan Picasso December 27 Undisputed Super-bantamweight Title

[bbc.reporter]

Inoue vs. Nakatani will be the biggest 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-pound title belts.

Read in full https://www.espn.com.au/boxing/story/_/id/47426170/naoya-inoue-junto-nakatani-win-set-2026-megafight

Yeah, no doubt it will be a great fight, but only in the context of Japan. A championship fight between two Japanese fighters just doesn’t have the same excitement as past champions did. Since it was held in Japan, it’s not like the whole world was really watching.

If that fight had taken place in the US, it would have been a much bigger event. As it is, global interest is limited because both fighters are Japanese. I think this division is clearly dominated by Japan right now, but the spark we used to see is no longer there. They don’t seem like risk-takers anymore, and it feels like everything is being controlled so the fights mostly stay in Japan.

Agree that this fight might not be as popular or similar as Crawford vs. Canelo, however, if you are a real fan of boxing who wants to witness 2 most skillful boxers in the ring, you will certainly watch this.

They are undefeated, they are the world's best boxers in their weight divisions and they are presently Japan's best pound for pound boxers!

[Distinctin]

Agree that this fight might not be as popular or similar as Crawford vs. Canelo, however, if you are a real fan of boxing who wants to witness 2 most skillful boxers in the ring, you will certainly watch this.

I’m sorry but I don’t really see Nakatani as a skillful boxer under that definition. For me he’s not even close to Inoue in terms of skills, and honestly he could’ve already tasted a loss in his last fight.

The way it played out, it felt like the judges already knew what to write even before the fight started. This isn’t proven of course, just how I saw the fight unfold, and I’m sure a lot of people noticed the same thing and would agree it looked rigged.

They are undefeated, they are the world's best boxers in their weight divisions and they are presently Japan's best pound for pound boxers!

Nakatani already has (1) -- but off the record. 

[bbc.reporter]

@Distinctin. I honestly have not followed much of Nakatani's career. What was the fight where he was supposed to be loser but where the judges have declared him the winner? I would very much like to watch this hehehehe.

On Nakatani's arguable skillfulness, I agree. However, on the present Japanese pound for pound this is Inoue on 1 and Nakatani on 2. This fight will certainly be the decision on who is the best boxer in Japan.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

@Distinctin. I honestly have not followed much of Nakatani's career. What was the fight where he was supposed to be loser but where the judges have declared him the winner? I would very much like to watch this hehehehe.

On Nakatani's arguable skillfulness, I agree. However, on the present Japanese pound for pound this is Inoue on 1 and Nakatani on 2. This fight will certainly be the decision on who is the best boxer in Japan.

Perhaps he was talking about the last fight against Hernandez as it is a controversial result. The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-113, and a widely criticized 118-110, all in favor of Nakatani.

But there were an uproar on the judges score as it could be seen as a draw or worst, could be a win for Hernandez, but it looks like the judges doesn't want Nakatani to lose because they could have been hoping for a Nakatani vs Inoue in the future.

And with this results, there are accusations that the Japanese boxer is again doing a "home cook" decision which they are known in the past.

[bbc.reporter]

@Distinctin. I honestly have not followed much of Nakatani's career. What was the fight where he was supposed to be loser but where the judges have declared him the winner? I would very much like to watch this hehehehe.

On Nakatani's arguable skillfulness, I agree. However, on the present Japanese pound for pound this is Inoue on 1 and Nakatani on 2. This fight will certainly be the decision on who is the best boxer in Japan.

Perhaps he was talking about the last fight against Hernandez as it is a controversial result. The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-113, and a widely criticized 118-110, all in favor of Nakatani.

But there were an uproar on the judges score as it could be seen as a draw or worst, could be a win for Hernandez, but it looks like the judges doesn't want Nakatani to lose because they could have been hoping for a Nakatani vs Inoue in the future.

And with this results, there are accusations that the Japanese boxer is again doing a "home cook" decision which they are known in the past.

I did not watch this. I honestly only watched Inoue vs. Picasso hehehehe.

In any case, I will watch Nakatani vs. Hernandez if this is available on youtube.com and I will watch this as a judge heheheeh. If you watch this as a fan sometimes you will be very biased and the decision will not be very much criticized.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

@Distinctin. I honestly have not followed much of Nakatani's career. What was the fight where he was supposed to be loser but where the judges have declared him the winner? I would very much like to watch this hehehehe.

On Nakatani's arguable skillfulness, I agree. However, on the present Japanese pound for pound this is Inoue on 1 and Nakatani on 2. This fight will certainly be the decision on who is the best boxer in Japan.

Perhaps he was talking about the last fight against Hernandez as it is a controversial result. The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-113, and a widely criticized 118-110, all in favor of Nakatani.

But there were an uproar on the judges score as it could be seen as a draw or worst, could be a win for Hernandez, but it looks like the judges doesn't want Nakatani to lose because they could have been hoping for a Nakatani vs Inoue in the future.

And with this results, there are accusations that the Japanese boxer is again doing a "home cook" decision which they are known in the past.

I did not watch this. I honestly only watched Inoue vs. Picasso hehehehe.

In any case, I will watch Nakatani vs. Hernandez if this is available on youtube.com and I will watch this as a judge heheheeh. If you watch this as a fan sometimes you will be very biased and the decision will not be very much criticized.

Here mate, the link for a full fight between Nakatani vs Hernandez, watch it and see how it goes,



You can also see the comments about the scoring, so it's fairly to say that majority see it as a very close fight and maybe it's possible too that there could be a rematch before Nakatani faces the Monster. But he still needs to win convincingly against Hernandez so that there will be no doubts.

But let's see what's Nakatani next plan.

[bbc.reporter]

@cryptomaniac_xxx. I have watched the fight immediately after I have made my reply. I reckon it was very much clear that Nakatani won rounds 1-6, round 7 might be a draw and rounds 8-12 were won by Hernandez.

If round 7 was judged as a draw, this would be 10-10 for both of these boxers, am I correct? The score would be 115-114 giving the victory to Nakatani.

On what will be next for Nakatani, I reckon he will avoid Inoue hehehehehehehe.

[fullfitlarry]

On what will be next for Nakatani, I reckon he will avoid Inoue hehehehehehehe.

He has been calling Inoue for the longest time so I guess that's what Nakatani wants in his next fight. But I think it will still be up to Naoya, if he is willing to fight his fellow Japanese to settle once and for all as who is the face of Japanese boxing although right now it's clear that it's Inoue that's why Nakatani wanted to challenge that. And if we can compare it to Fury vs AJ for all the marbles of British boxing.

But let's see, we know that if this fight happens it will be all in-house in Japan and there will be big money for both of them. So it's about their manager on how they are going to sit down and talk business.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

@cryptomaniac_xxx. I have watched the fight immediately after I have made my reply. I reckon it was very much clear that Nakatani won rounds 1-6, round 7 might be a draw and rounds 8-12 were won by Hernandez.

If round 7 was judged as a draw, this would be 10-10 for both of these boxers, am I correct? The score would be 115-114 giving the victory to Nakatani.

On what will be next for Nakatani, I reckon he will avoid Inoue hehehehehehehe.

Yes, that is a fair scoring on your side, (specially if you are going to mute it to be fair on scoring), but then again, there are still some bias judges and again since the fight is in Japan, you can't take the possibility that their could be some home cook decision as they used to be known to have that kind of bias judging.

I don't think that Nakatani will avoid Inoue, on the contrary it was his dream fight and even recognized Inoue. And so with that, I have a feeling that we really wanted Inoue and test himself against the best.

[Finestream]

I don't think that Nakatani will avoid Inoue, on the contrary it was his dream fight and even recognized Inoue. And so with that, I have a feeling that we really wanted Inoue and test himself against the best.

I don’t really think Nakatani is the best boxer who could beat Inoue. The gap in skill still feels too big for me. What’s been on my mind lately though is how these Japanese boxers feel a bit temporary. A lot of the hype comes from them winning consistently in Japan, but once they fight outside the country, it’s usually a different story.

Because of that, I don’t think we should expect Inoue to turn into the kind of champion who fights regularly in the US or in places with bigger crowds.
It looks like most of his big moments will stay in Japan.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

I don't think that Nakatani will avoid Inoue, on the contrary it was his dream fight and even recognized Inoue. And so with that, I have a feeling that we really wanted Inoue and test himself against the best.

I don’t really think Nakatani is the best boxer who could beat Inoue. The gap in skill still feels too big for me. What’s been on my mind lately though is how these Japanese boxers feel a bit temporary. A lot of the hype comes from them winning consistently in Japan, but once they fight outside the country, it’s usually a different story.

Fair enough, but I didn't say that Nakatani can beat Inoue. Inoue will still be the favorite going into this fight if it happened. But what I'm trying to say is that Nakatani maybe being the second best fighter inside Japan wanted to proved himself against their best that's why he wants to fight the Inoue.

Because of that, I don’t think we should expect Inoue to turn into the kind of champion who fights regularly in the US or in places with bigger crowds.
It looks like most of his big moments will stay in Japan.

That is the thing with this Japanese fighter, we don't know why they don't want to go outside of their comfort zone. For sure they know that the mecca of boxing is in the US or maybe by now in Saudi because of HE Turki. Although Inoue went out and fight from time to time outside, we've seen really not looking comfortable.

[bbc.reporter]

On what will be next for Nakatani, I reckon he will avoid Inoue hehehehehehehe.

He has been calling Inoue for the longest time so I guess that's what Nakatani wants in his next fight. But I think it will still be up to Naoya, if he is willing to fight his fellow Japanese to settle once and for all as who is the face of Japanese boxing although right now it's clear that it's Inoue that's why Nakatani wanted to challenge that. And if we can compare it to Fury vs AJ for all the marbles of British boxing.

But let's see, we know that if this fight happens it will be all in-house in Japan and there will be big money for both of them. So it's about their manager on how they are going to sit down and talk business.

Hehehe I was only joking because after the fight against Hernandez, I reckon Nakatani might be having a reckoning with his own feelings that he might certainly not be ready against the monster Inoue. This will be a bushido fight, Japanese vs. Japanese! There will be no mercy!

I predict that Inoue will put Nakatani on the stretcher on round 7!

[FinneysTrueVision]

I don’t really think Nakatani is the best boxer who could beat Inoue. The gap in skill still feels too big for me. What’s been on my mind lately though is how these Japanese boxers feel a bit temporary. A lot of the hype comes from them winning consistently in Japan, but once they fight outside the country, it’s usually a different story.

Because of that, I don’t think we should expect Inoue to turn into the kind of champion who fights regularly in the US or in places with bigger crowds.
It looks like most of his big moments will stay in Japan.

Fighting in Japan doesn’t detract from what Inoue has accomplished. Japan has a very rich history when it comes to combat sports. Some of the biggest names in the sport’s history have fought there including Tyson, Foreman, GGG and Donaire. If we include exhibitions, Pacquiao and Muhammad Ali also fought there.

[Yaunfitda]

I don’t really think Nakatani is the best boxer who could beat Inoue. The gap in skill still feels too big for me. What’s been on my mind lately though is how these Japanese boxers feel a bit temporary. A lot of the hype comes from them winning consistently in Japan, but once they fight outside the country, it’s usually a different story.

Because of that, I don’t think we should expect Inoue to turn into the kind of champion who fights regularly in the US or in places with bigger crowds.
It looks like most of his big moments will stay in Japan.

Fighting in Japan doesn’t detract from what Inoue has accomplished. Japan has a very rich history when it comes to combat sports. Some of the biggest names in the sport’s history have fought there including Tyson, Foreman, GGG and Donaire. If we include exhibitions, Pacquiao and Muhammad Ali also fought there.

Yes, that's true, specially in the lower weight classes, there are a lot of great Japanese boxers and together with Mexicans and Filipinos used to dominate that weight class. And now they have a lot of champions and a abundance of quality great fighters and maybe we can say that it's the Mecca of boxing in the Asian region. So with this two great fighters, it's inevitable that they will have to clash. Regardless of the performance of Nakatani, I think Inoue is also interested in fighting him in Japan. And Inoue can fill Saitama arena very easy and so he is not required to go to US to show his talent although Bob Arum says before that he will be fighting in the US.

[bbc.reporter]

I don’t really think Nakatani is the best boxer who could beat Inoue. The gap in skill still feels too big for me. What’s been on my mind lately though is how these Japanese boxers feel a bit temporary. A lot of the hype comes from them winning consistently in Japan, but once they fight outside the country, it’s usually a different story.

Because of that, I don’t think we should expect Inoue to turn into the kind of champion who fights regularly in the US or in places with bigger crowds.
It looks like most of his big moments will stay in Japan.

Fighting in Japan doesn’t detract from what Inoue has accomplished. Japan has a very rich history when it comes to combat sports. Some of the biggest names in the sport’s history have fought there including Tyson, Foreman, GGG and Donaire. If we include exhibitions, Pacquiao and Muhammad Ali also fought there.

However, if he is fighting much of his fights only in Japan, he will not become something similar to Pacman who from an Asian 3rd world who became the pound for pound best boxer in the world arguably. Inoue will only be something similar to a less famous boxer like Keith Thurman or Boots Ennis hehehehe.

[FinneysTrueVision]

However, if he is fighting much of his fights only in Japan, he will not become something similar to Pacman who from an Asian 3rd world who became the pound for pound best boxer in the world arguably. Inoue will only be something similar to a less famous boxer like Keith Thurman or Boots Ennis hehehehe.

You can be a top pound for pound fighter no matter where you fight. Usyk is at the top of most lists right now, and he’s fought all over the world. He has actually never fought for a world championship inside the United States, whereas Inoue has done it four times. Bivol is another highly ranked p4p fighter. He has only fought in Middle Eastern countries these past years. Boxing has become a more global sport than when Pacquiao was in his prime.

Relative popularity to other fighters is debatable, but it doesn’t tell us how great somebody is. Arturo Gatti was incredibly popular, but he is far from being the most talented and accomplished fighter of his era.

[bisdak40]

However, if he is fighting much of his fights only in Japan, he will not become something similar to Pacman who from an Asian 3rd world who became the pound for pound best boxer in the world arguably. Inoue will only be something similar to a less famous boxer like Keith Thurman or Boots Ennis hehehehe.

I see your point, but the advantage of Inoue fighting mostly in Japan is that he earns purses comparable to what he would receive in the US. In other words, money isn’t an issue for him—unlike Manny Pacquiao, who needed to fight in the US for financial reasons. Holding a fight in the Philippines, however, would barely generate revenue since no promoters are willing to stage it there without a major sponsor.

[bbc.reporter]

@FinneysTrueVision. He can be, however, this pound for pound no.1 ranking would need to be convincing and to fight the best boxers. I reckon Inoue will not fight the best by fighting only in Japan. I reckon he will need to move in a higher weight division and fight in America.

@bisdak40. I disagree that the purse outside of Japan will not be bigger if Inoue will fight in Las Vegas with the right opponent.