Naoya Inoue found common ground with the one fighter whose name is most often mentioned as a future rival.

The reigning Ring and undisputed junior featherweight champion was never going to spend all of fight week discussing a mythical matchup with Junto Nakatani or any other opponent than the one in front of him. In that vein, Inoue appreciated the approach taken by his unbeaten countryman, who shut down any thoughts of an immediate head-on collision.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) and Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) are scheduled for title defenses exactly one year apart. South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) is next up for Yokohama’s Inoue, The Ring’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, this Friday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

The same venue will see Kanagawa’s Nakatani, The Ring’s No. 1 bantamweight and No. 9 pound-for-pound entrant, next face unbeaten David Cuellar (28-0, 18KOs), No. 8 at 118 by The Ring, exactly one month later.

The 5’8” southpaw—already a three-division titlist—is naturally expected to move further up in weight. However, his plan is to ease his way into the 122-pound division.

That will come only after he settles up his intended business at bantamweight, which—he hopes—will include at least one unification bout. From there, a fight or two at a new weight before he entertains what would be the biggest all-Japanese clash in the nation’s history.

“I’m glad he said what he said,” Inoue told The Ring of Nakatani’s own agenda. “For me, it was never really a concern or a focus because we are still at different weight classes.

“Yes, it’s a fight that we can talk about further down the line. Right now, we both have immediate goals that don’t involve each other.”

Inoue has won titles at 108, 115, 118 and 122 pounds.

He moved up to the latter division in 2023 and fully unified all the titles there in just two fights. It remains a good fit for Inoue, who will attempt his fourth overall defense of at least two junior featherweight titles and third as The Ring and undisputed champion.

Given the astronomically thin chance at an upset—Inoue is a -5000 favorite to prevail on Friday—the rest of 2025 is all but mapped out for the future Hall of Fame. It will likely include two mandatory title defenses, one each in Las Vegas and either Saudi Arabia or back home in Japan.

Nakatani would like to unify in at least one division, after failing to lure the other titlists during his stay at flyweight and junior bantamweight. There is nothing to suggest he will leave the 118-pound division after Feb. 24, assuming he defeats the unbeaten Cuellar.

“I know who I am going to fight this year,” Inoue insisted. “[Nakatani] has not even moved up yet, so there’s no reason for me to mention his name right now.”

Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.