Naoya Inoue’s first fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is already being lined up.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh revealed he wants “The Monster” to face David Picasso on Dec. 27 as the headliner to a Riyadh Season card. Alalshikh added that he plans for that card to be Japan vs Mexico, leading the way for other intriguing matchups to be made on the same night.

“In December, we have The Monster,“ Alalshikh said. “The real monster. On December 27, we have Inoue. We are close to finishing Inoue against Picasso as the main event. The card will be built as the biggest fights between Japan and Mexico.”

Picasso was originally eyed for May 4 in Las Vegas to compete for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight title, but the fight never came to fruition and Ramon Cardenas stepped in to face "The Monster." They delivered one of the best fights of 2025, as Cardenas dropped Inoue late in the second round. Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs) took back control of the fight, dropping Cardenas in the seventh before stopping him a round later.

Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) last fought on Dec. 14, knocking out Yehison Cuello in the third round.

Inoue must first get past MJ Akhmadaliev on Sept. 14 in Japan. Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KOs), the interim WBA junior featherweight champion, has won three straight fights and defeated Luis Castillo by eighth-round stoppage on May 30 in Mexico.

Outside of Inoue vs Picasso, other intriguing fights could make the Japan vs Mexico card a great one on paper. Francisco Rodriguez Jr.’s dominant win over Galal Yafai on Saturday made him the interim WBC flyweight champion, which could line him up to face unified WBA and WBC flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji if he decides not to move up to junior bantamweight. Unified IBF and WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), making his junior featherweight debut against Cardenas (26-2-1, 14 KOs), would also fit the bill.

And if Inoue and Nakatani were to fight on Dec. 27 and win their respective fights, that’d set the table for the two Japanese stars to fight each other in 2026 in one of the best fights that can be made and the biggest boxing match in Japan’s history.