Pound for pound superstar Naoya Inoue makes his third appearance of 2025 this Sunday at IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan, and the Japanese wrecking ball defends his undisputed super bantamweight title against the tough Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Ohashi Promotions promote Inoue vs Akhmadaliev, while at the time of writing a broadcaster has not been announced.
Inoue (30-0, KO27) is biding time in anticipation of a potential blockbuster meeting Junto Nakatani, but with the unified bantamweight champion yet to test himself at 122 pounds, the fight isn’t yet ready, and Inoue instead takes on the tricky test of Akhmadaliev (14-1, KO11).
Inoue was WBC light flyweight champion in just his sixth fight, and he has gone on to reign at super flyweight and then cleaned out the bantamweight division by knocking out Paul Butler in eleven rounds in December 2022.
‘The Monster’ quickly then became undisputed super bantamweight champion by knocking Marlon Tapales in ten a year later, and he has since defended four times. 2025 saw the 32-year-old start the year with a four-round blowout of Ye Joon Kim, and he then took on Ramon Cardenas in May.
Inoue was stunned in the second round when he tasted the canvas, but he roared back to drop the American in the seventh, before completing a stoppage win a round later.
Akhmadaliev reigned as IBF and WBA champion from 2020, but after stopping Ronny Rios in the final round in June 2022, he lost his titles to the aforementioned Marlon Tapales by split decision in April 2023.
The Uzbek has won three times since, all early, the last an eighth round stoppage of Luis Castillo in May.
Prediction: Inoue will be looking to make a statement to send to potential opponent Nakatani, and he will be firing on all cylinders here. I fancy him to force a stoppage win in the later rounds here.
Yoshiki Takei vs Christian Medina Jiminez
A second world title fight on the bill comes at bantamweight, with the WBO title on the line. Yoshiki Takei (11-0, KO9) defends for the third time against Christian Medina Jiminez (25-4, KO18).
Takei won the title last May, taking a clear points win against Jason Moloney, and he defended last in May, stopping Yuttapong Tongdee inside a round in Yokohama.
Jiminez is experienced, and has won four times since dropping a decision to Ryosuke Nishida in 2023. He was last out in May, stopping Juan Ramirez Marquez in two rounds.
Prediction: Takei has impressed to date, and he can defend his crown with a win inside the distance.
Remaining Undercard
The third twelve-rounder comes at minimumweight, where Ryusei Matsumoto (6-0, KO4) can score a stoppage win against Yuni Takada (16-8-3, KO6), who has been stopped four times in eight defeats.
In the sole ten-rounder, Taiga Imanaga (8-0, KO5) can take the vacant Japanese lightweight title by out-pointing Yudai Murakami (6-2-1, KO0).
In eight round contests, Ei Go (5-0, KO2) can win on points against Shunpei Ohata (6-1, KO3) at super featherweight, and at super bantamweight, Toshiki Shimomachi (21-1-3, KO12) can halt Han Sol Lee (9-7, KO4).
The only four-rounder is at bantamweight, where Taisei Ayano (2-2, KO1) can win on the cards against Yusuke Nawa (2-5, KO1).
