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Naoya Inoue
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What next for Naoya Inoue: Junto Nakatani, Nick Ball & Riyadh Season link-up all mooted for Japanese star

Speculation has been rife as to which direction pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue will head in after stopping Ye Joon-Kim in his latest undisputed super-bantamweight championship defence, and we take a look at the avenues available to him.

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In the current Boxing News pound-for-pound top 10, four fighters have appeared on Riyadh Season fight cards.

Shakur Stevenson will soon make it five - and join Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol - when he defends his WBC Lightweight title in February against Floyd Schofield.

From the remaining five we could see the world’s best super-middleweight Canelo Alvarez and super-flyweight Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez do business with Turki Alalshikh at some point this calendar year.

Another may involve the undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, who made the latest defence of his 122lbs crown against Ye Joon Kim on Friday 24th January 2025.

It was a fight that appeared to be a mismatch, and proved to be a mismatch as the Japanese sensation toyed with and stopped his man in the fourth round.

Las Vegas beckons for Naoya Inoue in 2025

Who will Naoya Inoue fight next?

Looking forward, all of the signs suggest that Inoue will soon be heading for the bright lights of Las Vegas, with a hugely-appealing showdown with WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani likely in the offing.

That would be the biggest all-Japanese bout in boxing history, and one we expect to take place in the super-bantamweight division.

In the meantime, Inoue comfortably dispatched of Kim and donned the Riyadh Season logo on his shorts, signalling the start of an ambassadorial role for the entertainment venture headed up by Turki Alalshikh.

Last October Alalshikh met with Inoue in Japan to discuss working together and over a week later photos emerged of the two stood next to one another with Inoue’s role as a Riyadh Season ambassador officially announced.

Nick Ball lined-up for Naoya Inoue's Riyadh Season bow

Without throwing a punch it is a financially rewarding deal for Inoue, but should he eventually travel to Riyadh in a fighting capacity then who would he face?

The 31-year-old has made no secret of his ambition to move to featherweight, which would be the fifth weight class of his career, and fight for another world title - but that would likely only come following this hugely speculated Nakatani dust-up.

The four current world champions at 126lbs are Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Angelo Leo (IBF), Brandon Figueroa (WBC) and Nick Ball (WBA).

Espinoza and Ball are promoted by Top Rank and Queensberry, respectively, who Alalshikh has been working with on recent shows but it’s British banger Ball who could be the frontrunner to face Inoue.

Promoter Frank Warren signed Ball to Queensberry in February 2020 alongside fellow Liverpudlians Brad Strand and Andrew Cain, but it is the former who has excelled the most and risen to world champion status.

The 27-year-old has improved in almost every contest and when the time came to jump to world level he was very unlucky to not get the nod over Rey Vargas in March 2024.

Six months later though - during the Queensberry v Matchroom 5v5 - Ball righted the alleged wrong earlier in the year with a fantastic and gutsy display against Raymond Ford to prise the WBA title from the American.

Since then, Ball has seen his name linked to a showdown against Inoue and it is one he very much welcomes.

Given Alalshikh and Warren’s close working relationship it would make sense for all parties to give the Scouser a shot at taking down one of the finest fighting machines boxing has produced in the 21st century.

Naoya Inoue's remarkable rise to the featherweight division

Which weight divisions has Naoya Inoue fought in?

Having succeeded at light-flyweight, super-flyweight, bantamweight and super-bantamweight, it is not if Inoue will join the featherweight division it is when will he.

He has business at 122lbs to deal with first and largely this means waiting for the Nakatani showdown, and what a fight that could be as well.

When Inoue does arrive at featherweight, though, he could do with a first loss on his record such is the talent which Nakatani is and the problems he could offer his countryman.

But, even should that be the case, the pulling power of the Japanese pound-for-pound star is immense.

Riyadh Season boxing shows absolutely no signs of slowing down in 2025, with more monumental fights planned.

Inoue’s party invitation is his to take up when he chooses and, when he does, Turki Alalshikh will no doubt have some amazing plans up his sleeve for the Asian phenom.

Boxing

Full Fight Markets

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