The Samurai Night tournament will take place on December 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As part of the main event of the card, Japanese absolute world champion Naoya Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) will defend his status in the fight against 25-year-old Mexican representative David Allen Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs).

This will be Naoya’s fourth fight in 2025. And another step towards the Japanese mega-fight against Junto Nakatani, which could be the next match for both boxers.

Inoue has been very active this year. Picasso will enter the ring much fresher

Naoya Inoue has set a high pace for 2025. This is not typical for boxers of this level and class. As a rule, fighters who receive titles and status move towards making money from all this. They have great struggles against famous rivals, trying to earn as much money as possible. Or they box against people they don’t know, exhaust their status and use it to the fullest.

Naoya raised eyebrows when he said he wanted to do more than the two fights in 2025, which has been his standard tempo for years. And I was even more surprised when I kept my promise and reviewed all the applicants.

The first one was Ye Joon Kim. Not a name you’d want to see against Inoue, but that’s how it turned out. Naoya simply beat him: he knocked him out in the 4th round. He also did it beautifully when he wanted exactly an opponent – stating that the Japanese should attack.

The next opponent was Ramon Cardenas. As in the lightweight divisions, he is a tough opponent who takes a heavy hit from Mexico. He even knocked Naoya out in the 2nd round. But the success could not be improved: Inoue knocked him out before the championship rounds.

Another important factor is that this fight did not take place in Japan. Naoya left his home for the first time in a long time and entered the fight in front of Mexican fans supporting his opponent. This in no way prevented the Japanese from winning.

The third and last was Murodzhon Akhmadaliev. Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing client. The Briton claimed that Inoue was afraid of Murodjon and avoided meeting him. This was partly true about avoidance. More precisely, Naoya gradually passed the competitors in the belts and reached the Uzbek boxer.

Surprisingly, the former Olympian, who was a representative of the recently successful boxing school Akhmadaliev, did not show anything surprising. He jumped around his opponent, tried to counterattack, tried to connect. However, all this was very short-lived and it was as if Murodzhon was afraid of his rival.

As a result, Inoue won confidently, although not ahead of schedule. Naoya later said that he saw opportunities to defeat his opponent ahead of schedule but backed out. But this is not a new story for every boxer with such a large and early victory percentage.

This can be expected to be Inoue’s last fight of the year. However, he enters the ring again – this time against the young Mexican Picasso. He also lays claim to Naoya through an organization. And he, like a real Japanese, follows the program without deviating to the side.

Picasso is an invincible boxer who is much younger than his opponent. Very percussive, fast-paced. What’s interesting is that Inoue is once again facing an opponent bigger than himself. Both in arm span and height. This is no surprise considering how the not-so-great Japanese have risen through the categories.

What’s wrong with David’s opposition? It’s a good question because it’s impossible to equate this list of opponents with Inoue’s opponents. But he is not a failure. The same Kenosuke Kameda whom Picasso defeated in the previous meeting is a good opponent. There were multiple interesting rivals, but it’s not impossible to single out a specific set of rivals. There is no point in equating this with the record of a Japanese who has been competing at championship level for years.

Who is the favorite?

Picasso’s potential victory is one of the biggest upsets of 2025 in boxing, if not the main one. Naoya Inoue’s victory usually comes with a ridiculous odds of 1.025. At the same time, David’s raised hand is valued at 13.40.

It’s hard to argue with these figures, but there are still counter-arguments. Picasso has many advantages. These are dimensions. The ability to use them.

Multi-hit compositions. Good footwork. Theoretically, the Mexican can knock out his opponent from a distance by constantly maneuvering around the ring.

However, this is theoretical. Luis Neri could have done the same; took a heavy blow. And Ramon Cardenas is also a boxer who can punch well and recorded a crazy knockout at the end of 2025. Akhmadaliev’s legs are good. He also puts it together very skillfully – almost better than Picasso!

The dimensions are great. But none of Inoue’s opponents in the new league were significantly smaller than him. Naoya found himself in a situation where the opponents around him could not lose to him purely physically. But it was not broken in any way.

And now we come to the conclusion that Picasso’s real problem was his rival. Naoya Inoue is a very strong boxer. Moreover, he is much more experienced.

Now the only thing that can break it is time and high activity.

This is exactly what Picasso had to rely on. Showing his best and hoping that four fights a year will be too much for Inoue. The one who broke it in 2025 was Merab Dvalishvili, who looked like an absolute machine. Maybe Picasso will be lucky too?

The Samurai Night tournament will take place on December 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As part of the card, Japanese former world champion Junto Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) will make his debut in a new division. He moved up to super bantamweight to face Mexico’s 25-year-old Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs).

This fight will serve as a preliminary to the meeting between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani. If they both win in this tournament.

Nakatani was planning a mega fight with another boxer. However, he was later transferred to Inoue’s category.

Junto Nakatani has recently been rightfully considered one of the main stars of boxing and the second Japanese boxer after Naoya Inoue. He was expected to chase the overall championship in his division and then try to reach Naoya. But the plan looked different.

Jesse Rodriguez later said he was negotiating for a fight against Nakatani. There was a preliminary agreement and they even thought about the date of the fight. Jesse had to gain weight for this meeting but there was nothing critical about it but what we saw in the mega fight was crazy.

But then everything changed. Nakatani decided to move up in weight and Rodriguez competed for another title; He knocked out Martinez with a brilliant left jab and held a master class of sorts for his fellow champion.

That meeting was postponed, but the fight between Nakatani and Inoue was not. Quite the opposite. The announcement of the Samurai Night tournament actually depends on the two. Everything revolves around their theoretical confrontation. And in the comments the boxers do not hide the fact that they want to continue fighting each other.

However, the issue has not yet been resolved and no agreement has been made. Inoue must maintain his status. And Nakatani needs to make a successful debut in the new league.

Junto will face the undefeated Mexican puncher. Sebastian Hernando Reyes is only 25 years old. He has 18 knockouts in 20 fights and has never lost so far. This is 90% of early victories achieved during a professional career!

Making his debut against a boxer with so many points deserves respect. Moreover, when you have a high-profile challenge ahead of you that can only be lost due to a failed incident in battle. But in boxing you also have to look at what is behind these numbers.

If we look at Hernando Reyes’ record in detail, there is no one who can be compared to Nakatani. And with his opposition too. Armenian Khorsisyan is a good opponent, but nothing more. The Mexican met him at an earlier meeting and won by decision. This was the second fight of his career that did not result in a knockout.

Most of Reyes’ fights took place in Mexico. Only a few are in the US. There is not a single one in Arabia, where the meeting with Nakatani will take place. However, it cannot be said that Junto has an advantage; he also never fought in Saudi Arabia.

I would like to highlight one of Sebastian’s rivals. Saying that this is an indication that the person is ready for such confrontations.

But it doesn’t work.

It has many strong rivals. Fighting in Mexico is never very easy because a large percentage of the population likes to both box and watch boxing. And the competition there is perhaps the strongest in the world. Getting such a record in such an environment is an indicator of a good level.

However, there is a difference between a good level and competitors who can claim the championship. Among the losers, Nakatani has enough of that. Unlike your competitor.

This year alone, Junto defeated Ryosuke Nishida and David Cuellar. The first is a former kickboxer and just a strong boxer. He was undefeated, but all Nakatani did was make him submit.

Cuellar, like Junto’s future rival, is Mexican. Quite big, good puncher, young. And also invincible during the meeting. With him in the ring, the Japanese won in three rounds.

That doesn’t mean Nakatani’s next opponent has no chance. Junto is not some kind of killing machine or invincible boxer. He makes mistakes, he misses, and he holds up really well until some opponents surrender early.

We are talking only about objective factors that can be evaluated. And they’re all on the Junto’s side.

Who is the favorite?

Nakatani has a crazy lead in the bookmakers’ offers. You can bet on him with odds of 1.06 and on your opponent with odds of 9.40.

There’s a lot of logic in this. At least because of the names. If it wasn’t for Nakatani, would we know about this Mexican? He is one of many people who have no one on record but are in good numbers. Junto made him, if not a star, a boxer who could be said to be Nakatani’s rival.

The main thing now is to prove yourself in this fight. Show the maximum value it currently has. Nakatani can miss a punch; He demonstrated this more than once. And who knows if this will be the final for the Japanese?

But that’s not the point. Inoue’s knockout strikes were long remembered by fans. Everyone remembers who put the Japanese in the ass. Same thing will happen if Nakatani gets knocked down. Especially before a possible match against Naoya.

Of course, the Mexican wants to win and does not go to the ring just for the check. The young, undefeated puncher doesn’t want to serve the count. He needs a win. And that’s great for neutral fans. However, any success with such an assessment of luck will immediately give him the chance to continue winning more in the future.

But Junto is not always in the mood to show off. So it’s interesting how messed up the Mexican can be in the ring against the Japanese until they read him. Or if he reads it.

Ukrainian heavyweight Alexander Usik told how he raises children. The athlete and his wife Ekaterina have four children.

“It seems to me that children need to be forced to do some things until the age of 14-15. Because when they say give the child a choice, he will choose not to do anything.”

“With children, everything is simple: I help them. I must raise my children in such a way that when they reach adulthood, they can live without my help. Yes, I can be somewhere and help them. But so that they also have a job of their own.”

“We need to load them up, give them the language, educate them, travel. You definitely need to do that. Someone says: We can’t travel abroad. This is all nonsense. You can’t go abroad, but you can travel around the country because we have so many beautiful places. Just go somewhere where there is a river or something. The kids see that you are interested in something. I go to training with them, I talk, eat, drink, walk or just sit and watch how they communicate with each other, what they do. Tell them what interests them,” he said. Usik.