Boxing News
Naoya Inoue-Junto Nakatani lined up for May 2026 at Tokyo Dome
Dec 3, 2025 • 6:11 AM ET
Naoki FukudaBANGKOK, Thailand - The fight that is atop of many hardcore fans' wish-lists, Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani, is in the works for May 2026 at the Tokyo Dome according to WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman.
Inoue and Nakatani will appear on the same bill before that, in separate contests that both are expected to win, on December 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inoue, 31-0 (27 KOs), takes on David Picasso in a defense of his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO junior featherweight titles that the 32-year-old is heavily favored to win. Nakatani, 31-0 (24 KOs), will step up to the 122lbs clash after ruling at bantamweight when he takes on the unbeaten Sebastian Hernandez Reyes.
Inoue has already recorded three victories this year, beating Ye Joon Kim (KO 4) in January, Ramon Cardenas (TKO 8) in May and he was taken the full 12 rounds by Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September.
Nakatani, 27, has been just as impressive in 2025. In February the southpaw knocked out David Cuellar Contreras in three rounds before halting Ryosuke Nishida in the sixth round of their bantamweight unification clash in June.
Presuming all goes to plan in December, which of course is victories for Inoue and Nakatani, it will be all systems go for one of the best fights to make in the sport.
Matt Christie, a lifelong fight fan, has worked in boxing for more than 20 years. He left Boxing News in 2024 after 14 years, nine of which were spent as editor-in-chief. Before that, he was the producer of weekly boxing show “KOTV.” Now the co-host of “The Opening Bell” podcast and regularly used in the UK as a pundit, Matt was named as the Specialist Correspondent of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalism Awards in 2021, which was the seventh SJA Award he accepted during his stint in the hot seat at Boxing News. The following year, he was inducted into the British Boxing Hall of Fame. He is a member of the BWAA and has been honored several times in their annual writing awards.
