Naoya Inoue made easy work of Alan Picasso to score a unanimous decision win Saturday while headlining "The Ring V: Night of the Samurai" show in Saudi Arabia.

The undisputed junior featherweight champion Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) now moves on to face fellow Japanese countryman Junto Nakatani, who also won on the night during a war and decision against Sebastian Hernandez.

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn was the promoter of record for the event and got the opportunity to put Inoue on a pedestal after previously trying to dethrone him with his fighter, Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

Hearn envisions Inoue encountering another pound-for-pound pitting in 2026 against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez once “The Monster’s” chapter with Nakatani ends.

“Inoue is just too good,” Hearn told The Ring. “He's so cold under pressure and played with Picasso at times. I probably would have liked to see him step on it a little bit more, but he did it with ease against a very good fighter in Picasso. That's two straight points wins now for Inoue, and there'll be other fighters now who think they'll do well against him. It's going to be interesting to see what the future holds.

“I think [Rodriguez-Inoue] is a hell of a fight. It's difficult to pick holes in Inoue. He's a fantastic fighter but I am watching that and thinking 'I like Jesse's chances' ... Maybe this time next year we could be looking at that fight.”

Rodriguez is currently The Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO junior bantamweight champion. He has aspirations to become an undisputed champion, a goal that became complicated this week when IBF titleholder Willibaldo Garcia was hospitalized and his title fight versus Kenshiro Teraji was canceled.

Rodriguez will now have to wait and see what Garcia’s future entails or move up to 118 pounds to chase titles in a new division before getting a potential call for Inoue at 122 pounds.

“When he's ready, can fight at junior featherweight, and the timing is perfect for each other, I would love for him to wait to challenge me,” said Inoue.