Naoya Inoue looks to be on the cusp of announcing a monumental deal with Riyadh Season following his meeting with boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh.
The pound-for-pound star will face his IBF mandatory challenger, Sam Goodman, on December 24, hoping to deliver a Christmas Eve cracker for his adoring fans in Japan.
This will be the 31-year-old’s third defense of his undisputed crown at super bantamweight, following his two destructive stoppages over TJ Doheny and Luis Nery.
And yet, while unbeaten Australian Goodman represents a worthy challenger, the vast majority of fans are, instead, hoping to see Naoya Inoue take on the elite operators in and around his division.
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Turki Alalshikh and Naoya Inoue tease imminent Riyadh Season deal
Alalshikh has established himself as the most powerful man in boxing, with his Riyadh Season events featuring bona fide stars such as Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Terence Crawford.
The Saudi Arabian advisor staged a colossal show headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol last month, and now looks ahead to the fiercely anticipated rematch between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.
It could be said without any degree of doubt, then, that Alalshikh has the ability to elevate Inoue’s career.
The Japanese sensation, of course, is already a household name but, given the potential exposure that comes with a Riyadh Season card, there is now an opportunity to grow his global profile exponentially.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum, who is Inoue’s promoter, has also hinted at cultivating a closer relationship with Alalshikh since forming a partnership with his Saudi promotion earlier this year.
And so, it should have come as no surprise when Alalshikh revealed his meeting with Inoue on X earlier today.
Will Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani take place in Saudi Arabia?
Arum has confirmed that, should Inoue get past Goodman, he would be keen to stage the pulverizing puncher’s next outing in America.
However, if a clash with WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani is presented to him, then the demand for another showdown in the land of the rising sun would be immense.
And despite Alalshikh wishing to bring big time boxing to Saudi Arabia, he has also taken his brand to the West, which was where Crawford vs Israil Madrimov and Joshua vs Daniel Dubois took place.
Even so, one would suspect that Inoue will be expected to headline at least one card in the Middle East next year.