LAS VEGAS – Bob Arum has revealed that plans exist not only for Naoya Inoue to fight Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September, but for further fights in December and in early 2026 – potentially against Junto Nakatani.

The 32-year-old Inoue, on Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena, defends his undisputed junior-featherweight title against the Mexican-American Ramon Cardenas, 29, on the occasion of Cinco de Mayo weekend.

It was first reported by BoxingScene that a contest with Uzbekistan’s Akhmadaliev would take place in Japan on September 14, and confirmed by Inoue on Friday, but Top Rank’s Arum, Inoue’s co-promoter, has plans in place that potentially extend to him again moving up in weight and returning to the US to fight again in 2026.

Suggestions persist that he will fight in December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against Nick Ball of England before fighting Nakatani, also of Japan, in their home country in what increasingly represents the most appealing contest of all.

“That’s on the books for September 14 in Japan,” Arum told BoxingScene of the date with Akhmadaliev. “One step at a time. 

“His calendar’s filled. September; December in Riyadh; the spring in Japan, maybe for the Nakatani fight, and then he’s going to look at the 126lbs division. Certainly we’d love to have him back here [in the US] fighting for a featherweight world title.”

Incidentally, on the undercard on Sunday, Mexico’s Rafael Espinoza, the WBO featherweight champion and another Top Rank-promoted fighter, defends his title against Edward Vazquez.