In the main event Naoya Inoue bettered Alan David Picasso over 12 rounds with Junto Nakatani on the undercard.
Inoue’s win over Alan Picasso may now set up a showdown with Nakatani in the new year.
‘The Monster’ was last in action in September where he beat Muradjon Akhmadaliev over 12 rounds.
Inoue started well, constantly feinting in an attempt to unlock Alan Picasso’s tight guard.
‘The Monster’ was far too sharp for Picasso as he picked up the pace as the fight went on.
The 32-year-old was almost punch perfect throughout the contest and looked in control at all times.
Inoue targeted the body of Picasso especially who began to really slow down as the fight went on.
The undisputed world champion addressed his performance and wasn’t impressed by himself on the live broadcast.
“My performance tonight is not good enough, I should have done better.”
He also opened the door to a possible showdown with fellow countryman Nakatani in the new year.
“We both had very good wins tonight, so over the next year we’ll decide what to do. For the Japanese fans, you can expect something good.”
Junto Nakatani vs Sebastian Hernandez Reyes
At super bantamweight Junto Nakatani was in a war against Sebastian Hernandez Reyes [20-1-0] picking up a unanimous decision with two judges scoring the bout 115-113 and one 118-110 in a wide card.
He started strong pushing back Hernandez in the first round. Nakatani landed a beautiful uppercut through the guard of the Mexican.
Hernandez started to grow into the fight in the third round, landing well to the body of Nakatani.
Hernandez continued to have success throughout the mid-stages of the fight forcing Nakatani to remain punch-perfect, boxing on the outside for almost all of the fight.
Nakatani’s right eye began to close in the 11th round as Hernandez refused to back off in the closing stages.
The Mexican absorbed some big shots from Nakatani throughout the fight but continued to pile on the pressure and remain in the face of ‘Big Bang.’
The 27-year-old will hope his win tonight is enough to earn a historic showdown with the main event winner Inoue.
With Inoue also extending his unbeaten record to [32-0-0] they seem to be on a collision course to fight each other at some point in the new year.
Remaining undercard
In an upset win, Eridson Garcia [23-1-0] edged out Taiga Imanaga [9-1-0] on a split decision in Riyadh.
Imanaga was expected to pick up a routine win but Garcia proved to be too tough a test possibly too soon in his career.
Garcia showed intent from the first bell, stepping inside with the jab and using some old-school dirty boxing tricks.
The Mexican kept his head close to Imanaga’s chest in the pocket, forcing the 26-year-old into some real tough positions in the fight.
The Dominican weighed Imanaga down throughout the rounds whose fast footwork started to slow from the fourth round.
Garcia put Imanaga down in the eighth round with a short right after he squared up, unable to uphold his elusive footwork.
Reito Tsutsumi moved to [4-0-0 3KOs] with a fourth round stoppage of Leobardo Quintana Sanchez [12-1-0] in the fourth round.
The pair kicked off a great night of boxing in Riyadh with the 23-year-old prospect impressing once again.
Tsutsumi started his work early catching Quintana off balance towards the end of the first round.
The fourth round marked the end of Quintana’s night with Tsutsumi unloading an attack to the body.
He ended the contest with a number of big right hooks before the referee was forced to step in 1:14 into the round.
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