Naoya Inoue’s 2025 Plan Revealed: Riyadh Season Awaits

Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) as expected, blew away the overmatched Ye Joon Kim in his last fight – and attention quickly turned to what was next for “The Monster,” and Keith Idec at The Ring Magazine has revealed the 2025 plans for Inoue and if all goes according to plan, we will be seeing Inoue three more times this year.

Naoya Inoue 2025 Fight Schedule and Riyadh Season Plans

2025 Plans Revealed

It was confirmed toward the end of 2024 that Naoya Inoue would serve as an ambassador to the Riyadh Season boxing series. Following this news, it has been expected we will see Inoue on a Riyadh Season card, and it appears we will see “The Monster” in Riyadh during 2025.

As widely reported, it looks like Inoue will face WBC mandatory challenger Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) in Las Vegas this June. Following this, “The Monster” is expected to return to Japan in September and if he comes through that bout unscathed, he will box on a Riyadh Season card in December, as revealed by Idec.

The possible opponents for September and December are to be confirmed, but mandatory challenger Murodjohn Akhmadaliev remains a much-talked-about possible opponent for Inoue and is mentioned by Keith Idec as a possibility for December with team Akhmadaliev chasing the fight, accusing Inoue of ‘ducking‘ their man.

Other Possible Options

Many have also called for a Japanese super fight between Junto Nakatani and Inoue and Bob Arum had previously spoken to Dan Rafael about when a possible Nakatani-Inoue fight could take place: “Exactly. Whenever we can get the Tokyo Dome, that’s the key, because it’s not only with the Baseball team that plays there, the Tokyo Giants. They also do entertainment, it’s always booked up. Brad Jacobs (COO of Top Rank) has met with the head guy at the Tokyo Dome and they‘re aiming for a date in the summer or fall of next year to do that fight.”

The possibility of seeing Inoue three more times this year is a mouth-watering prospect. Facing Picasso, potentially Nakatani, and Akhmadaliev would cap off a truly memorable year for both Inoue and boxing. Can the powers that be make it happen?