Naoya Inoue has continued his run as one of the most dominant boxers of our generation last Saturday (Dec. 27, 2025) by defeating David Picasso via unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a one-sided victory to retain his WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring Super Bantamweight titles and status as undisputed champion (highlights here).
From the jump it was evident that Picasso – who was undefeated coming into the fight at 32-0-1 – was in for a long night as “The Monster” implemented his
aggressive style and pace that makes him one of the most dangerous fighters in the game today.
The win was Inoue’s fourth of 2025, a remarkable run that is rarely seen at the highest level of boxing from a title holder who is obviously never backs down from a challenge. Still, Inoue’s fourth fight in 12 months might have taken a took a toll on him, which is why he wasn’t too pleased with his win.
“My performance was not good enough tonight. I should have done better,” Inoue said after the fight.
“To be honest, it’s regrettable, Not meeting those expectations is extremely disappointing. Honestly, I really wanted to KO him. I think Picasso’s defense was just too good. That’s what it comes down to.”
All told, it was Inoue’s sixth win in 17 months and his twenty ninth straight championship win, further cementing his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game. With a run like that, the lineup for opponents for “The Monster” is getting slimmer by the day, which begs the question: “What’s next?”
At the moment there are two candidates that fit the bill in the form of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Junto Nakatani.
Nakatani is the current WBC, IBF and The Ring Bantamweight champion of the world and defeated Sebastian Hernandez on the undercard of “Inoue vs. Picasso” via unanimous decision, improving his record to 32-0. Both men are mega stars in their native country of Japan, which would make for one of the biggest fights “The Land of the Rising Sun” has ever seen.
As for Rodriguez, he is the current WBC, WBO, WBA and The Ring Super Flyweight champion of the world and is undefeated at 23-0 with 16 knockouts wins. His most recent victory came against Fernando Martínez, defeating him via unanimous decision. Of course, “Bam” would have to move up two weight classes to make the fight happen, but it would be one of the best “champion vs champion” fights that could be made at the moment.
That said, who would you like to see “The Monster” to face next?
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