Japanese boxing stars Inoue and Nakatani poised for showdown if Saudi bouts go their way

The Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Manny Pacquiao bout happened probably five years too late. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua still haven’t fought.

Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani are ready to square off now in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. No posturing, just two top pound-for-pound boxers in their prime seemingly willing to give fans what they want.

Here’s the catch: They each have one more fight and need to avoid a surprise before their expected showdown.

Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) is the undisputed super bantamweight (122 lbs) champion and the headliner Saturday in Saudi Arabia. He faces Mexico’s Alan David Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs). Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), moving up in weight to make his debut in the division, faces Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs) — also Mexican — on the same card, a showcase of Japanese fighters.

“This is very important for Japanese boxing,” Inoue told The Associated Press through a translator.

Most important for Inoue and Nakatani, though, are victories that would clear the way for a blockbuster matchup, likely in Tokyo in May.

“Firstly, I have a plan to have a fight with Nakatani,” Inoue said of his goals for 2026. “Also, I have the idea that I may move up to the featherweight division.”

The buildup to the Riyadh event, billed as the “Night of the Samurai,” has been as much about Inoue-Nakatani as it has about their respective opponents Saturday. At a press event last month, promoters sat Inoue and Nakatani next to each other and made sure they were the last two off the stage during the photo session. The pair didn’t exchange chitchat or handshakes.

“Personally, I have no contact or connection with him,” the 32-year-old Inoue said. “Of course, I value his boxing, that’s why I’m looking forward to fighting him.”

With the retirement of Terence Crawford plus the injury layoff of undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, there’s a good argument that Inoue is now the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

The 5-foot-5 (1.65 meter) Japanese star, a four-division champion, uses precision combinations plus elite speed and power to dismantle opponents.

The Yokohama native has already fought three times this year, most recently a unanimous decision victory over Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September.

In two of his past five fights, Inoue has overcome an early knockdown — both times from a left hook — en route to stoppage victories. Luis Nery stunned a Tokyo Dome crowd in May 2024 when he sent Inoue to the canvas in the first round. One year later, Ramon Cardenas dropped Inoue in the second round in Las Vegas.

Inoue's promoters made sure the Las Vegas fight was on ESPN rather than pay-per-view to expose him to a wider US audience. Bob Arum, Inoue’s promoter at Top Rank, had said he wants Inoue to reach Shohei Ohtani-level fame.

Inoue himself, however, isn't so sure.

“Apart from the boxing, I’m a boring person. I just focus on boxing.”

At 5-foot-8 (1.72 meters), Picasso has height and reach advantages on Inoue, but probably not much else. Inoue is a -3000 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook, and -700 to win by stoppage.

“The pressure is on Inoue, he needs to win,” the 25-year-old Picasso told AP, also through a translator. “I have nothing to lose. Everybody expects him to win.”

Picasso, who has studied neuroscience at university, vowed to take Inoue’s belts in what he said will be “Mexican Aztec warrior night.”

“I come to win. I will beat this guy. I will beat the Monster.”

Picasso's training team includes cardio coach Germán Silva, who twice won the New York City Marathon (1994 and ’95).

Just like Inoue, the 27-year-old Nakatani has been collecting world titles as he’s progressed through weight categories. The three-division champion vacated his two belts at bantamweight to move from 118 lbs to 122 lbs.

“I feel I have gained power and speed as well,” he told AP.

Nakatani, nicknamed “Big Bang," said he's not overlooking his 25-year-old Mexican opponent: “He has a strong punch and he’s very strong-willed."

Nakatani's goal for 2026 is pretty simple.

“I’m going to be the champion at super bantamweight.”

The event at the 22,000-capacity Mohammed Abdo Arena is available pay per view on DAZN with a subscription. The ring walk for Inoue's fight is expected to be just before 4 p.m. local time (1 p.m. London, 8 a.m. ET), which is 10 p.m. in Japan. Nakatani's bout is scheduled to begin about 70 minutes before Inoue's fight.

AP boxing: https://www.apnews.com/boxing

FILE - Mexico's David Picasso, left, and Armenia's Azat Hovhannisyan fight during their WBC Super Bantamweight Silver Voluntary boxing match at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

FILE - Junto Nakatani trains at a gym in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte, File)

FILE - Junto Nakatani hits Andrew Moloney in a junior bantamweight title boxing match Saturday, May 20, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - Japanese champion Naoya Inoue speaks during a press conference after winning over Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev in a boxing match for the unified WBC IBF WBO WBA super bantamweight world title in Nagoya, Japan, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FILE - Naoya Inoue celebrates after defeating Ramon Cardenas in a junior featherweight title boxing match Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — England's managing director of men's cricket Rob Key says he will investigate the drinking habits of the England team following reports that their mid-Ashes beach resort break may have involved over-indulging of alcohol.

England lost each of the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action.

The England squad visited the resort town of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane between the second and third tests, a long-planned part of the itinerary designed to help players relax and unwind on the long tour.

A video emerged on Tuesday which appeared to show England's opening batter Ben Duckett unable to remember how to get back to the hotel.

In the video posted on X, Duckett was apparently talking with a group of people. When a woman asked if he knew how to get home, he allegedly replied “No" and the conversation then continues with Duckett appearing disorientated.

Another video posted on social media showed batter Jacob Bethell dancing in a club. Bethell, however, has not played in the test series so far.

According to multiple reports, the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement that it was aware of content circulating online but that it would not comment further until it had established the facts.

England captain and star allrounder Ben Stokes said at a media conference Wednesday that the mental health of the English players was his top priority.

"It’s never a nice place to be in when, not only the media world but also the social media world, is just piling on top of you. It’s a very tough place to be in as an individual,” Stokes said.

“When you’re 3-0 down and you’ve lost the series, everything you say, everything you do gets scrutinized — and rightly so. You don’t really have a leg to stand on when you’ve lost three games in a huge series like this. When you win, everything’s great, when you’re losing, it’s not.”

Duckett has been one of test cricket's most productive openers in the past couple of years at test level and in the shorter one day international format.

He entered the series with six test hundreds and was touted by some observers to make an impact in Australia with his crisp and decisive stroke-making. But his tendency to rarely leave the ball coincided with his form dipping considerably during the Ashes series, with a top score of 29 from six innings.

In the third test, Duckett was finding his free-flowing form with 29 scored from 30 balls before being bowled by premier spinner Nathan Lyon playing a somewhat defensive shot.

In the second innings, with England trying to save the match and the series, Duckett lasted two balls. He hit a fine four off Pat Cummins and was then caught off the next delivery from Cummins when he played a shot well away from his body.

Key, who did not join the players in Noosa, earlier said he had no problem with the break, but would not be happy if he found evidence of over-indulging.

“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively, then of course we’ll be looking into that,” he said Tuesday in Melbourne, where the fourth test begins Friday.

“Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. From everything that I’ve heard so far, they actually were pretty well behaved. Very well behaved.”

He added: “We’ve got enough ways of finding out exactly what happened and everything that I’ve heard so far that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, all of that, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned."

Key also said he had previously looked into reports that players had been spotted drinking the night before a match in New Zealand shortly before the Ashes.

A short clip of white-ball captain Harry Brook and Bethell was shared by a member of the public on social media, said to have been taken while they were out in Wellington before the third one-day international on Nov. 1.

“I didn’t feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones,” he said.

“I think that was a bit of a wake-up call actually for what they’re going into. I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that, I think is ridiculous, really.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australian players celebrate the dismissal of England's Jamie Smith during play on the final day of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)