Naoya Inoue Beats Alan Picasso by Unanimous Decision in Riyadh

Naoya Inoue wrapped up the busiest year of his boxing career with a 12-round unanimous decision over Mexican challenger Alan Picasso on Saturday night, December 27.

The undisputed super bantamweight champion unleashed flurries of punches again and again in Riyadh. Inoue, 32, attempted and delivered more punches than Picasso in every round, according to CompuBox's official fight statistics.

This included a 161-63 edge in jabs landed and a 167-107 advantage in power punches landed.

In particular, Inoue's jab was an effective weapon in the middle and late rounds. He connected with 18 jabs in the fifth round, and his jab was on target 50% of the time (24 of 48) in the seventh frame. "Monster" Inoue also landed 18 jabs in the 10th and 19 in the 11th. The Mexican challenger connected with only four jabs in the 10th and four in the 11th.

Indeed, the stark contrast in the overall volume of punching ― and punching effectiveness ― was a significant factor on the three judges' scorecards (119-109, 120-108 and 117-111).

For the first time in his illustrious career, Naoya Inoue went the distance in back-to-back fights. (On September 14, he outpointed Uzbek challenger Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya.)

Naoya Inoue Expresses Disappointment in His Performance

It was a convincing victory, but Inoue insisted he wasn't pleased with his performance.

"My performance tonight wasn't good enough," Inoue told DAZN in a post-fight interview. "I should have done better."

He added, "I'm satisfied to have fought four matches this year, but I got a bit tired. I'll take a bit of rest."

Known as a knockout artist throughout his career, Inoue fell short of that goal on this night.

"No disrespect to Picasso, but I wanted to show the difference between us a little more and to knock him down," Inoue was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. "I wasn't able to meet expectations or to box the way I wanted to."

He vowed "to be much better next time."

What's next for Inoue?

There's talk of an all-Japan super fight between Inoue and Junto Nakatani in 2026 at Tokyo Dome. The two boxers have verbally agreed to fight, and May has been reported as the possible month for the blockbuster bout.

Nakatani Triumphs in Super Bantamweight Debut

On Saturday's undercard in Saudi Arabia, Nakatani (32-0, 24 knockouts) made his super bantamweight debut, earning a 12-round unanimous victory over Mexican Sebastian Hernandez. Two judges scored the fight 115-113 for Nakatani, while another had it 118-110.

Hernandez fell to 20-1 (18 KOs).

"It turned out to be a really tough bout, and it's been a really good experience for my boxing career," Nakatani said, according to Kyodo News.

Ever the showman, Inoue uttered a few promotional words on the DAZN broadcast about a future Inoue-Nakatani showdown.

"Both of us had a very good win tonight," Inoue said during his post-fight interview. "We will have to wait and see. But for the Japanese fans, you can expect something very good."

A Record-Setting Achievement

Making his sixth title defense as the undisputed super bantamweight champion, Naoya Inoue retained his WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF titles. In doing so, he registered his 27th consecutive world title fight triumph, moving one win ahead of Joe Louis and Floyd Mayweather Jr for the all-time record.

Inoue improved to 32-0 with 27 knockouts. Picasso slipped to 32-1-1 (17 KOs).

In Round 2, the world champion set the tone with three- and four-punch combinations, defining moments in the round. And it produced the following revealing numbers: Inoue was 30-for-55 on power punches in the three-minute round. At the same time, the 25-year-old Picasso was 14-for-35. It was a vivid snapshot of the entire fight.

With age comes wisdom, people have said countless times throughout history. And in this fight, the seven-year age difference between Naoya Inoue and Alan Picasso was one of the factors. The champion's additional years of experience as an elite fighter added to his tactical brilliance.

Although Picasso had an eight-centimeter height advantage and a seven-centimeter reach advantage, his opponent's precision in throwing and landing punches was far greater.

Thomas Hull of boxingnews24.com eloquently summed up how Picasso lost the fight.

"Going 12 [rounds] with Inoue without touching canvas changes how people approach you," Hull wrote in his fight report. "But his shot selection was messy. Too many hooks thrown from bad angles. He chased volume instead of structure. That's why he lost rounds he could've stolen."