Oleksandr Usyk Congratulates Naoya Inoue After Record-Setting Title Defense

Naoya Inoue might have made a fan out of Oleksandr Usyk with his latest title defense.

Inoue improved to 32-0 on Saturday with a lopsided decision win over David Picasso to retain the undisputed super bantamweight title. Although he did not find the knockout, he impressed many with his dominant performance, including heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who watched the fight ring-side.

Usyk congratulated Inoue in the ring after the fight and doubled up on his praise of Inoue after the fact on social media.

"[Naoya Inoue] congratulations!" Usyk wrote. "You showed true champion level. A spectacular fight and the true spirit of a warrior."

Inoue and Usyk are the consensus top two pound-for-pound boxers in the world after Terence Crawford's retirement. Fans are more familiar with Usyk, who has been in more big fights lately, which gives him the nod atop most lists sans Crawford.

The pound-for-pound debate makes Usyk and Inoue rivals in a sense, but the champions clearly have no animosity between them. Usyk and Inoue are two of the most level-headed fighters in the first place, with neither having a heated feud with any opponent in their careers.

The win was Inoue's fourth of 2025, an unprecedented feat for a world champion. He began the year with knockouts of Ye-Joon Kim and Ramon Cardenas before collecting a pair of victories over Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Alan Picasso in the last three months.

Naoya Inoue makes history with dominant win over Alan Picasso

Naoya Inoue makes return to the USA — Undisputed 122-pound champion Naoya Inoue | IMAGO / AFLOSPORT

By beating Picasso, Inoue sets up a super fight with former bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani in 2026. The entire 'Ring V' fight card was billed as a set-up to an eventual Inoue vs. Nakatani matchup, with the Japanese stars competing in the final two fights of the night.

Minutes before Inoue beat Picasso, Nakatani gritted out a decision win over Sebastian Hernandez in his 122-pound debut. The fight was closer than many expected, but the win nonetheless makes an Inoue-Nakatani matchup one of the most anticipated of 2026.

Inoue also made boxing history with his win over Picasso. He became the first male fighter in 42 years to defend The Ring title four times in one calendar year.

Heavyweight legend Larry Holmes was the last fighter to achieve the feat, doing so in 1983.

Naoya Inoue is the first man in 42 years to defend The Ring title four times in a calendar year 👹

The last man to do so was heavyweight champion Larry Holmes who made four defences in 1983 👏

The Ring V: Night of the Samurai on DAZN | @RiyadhSeason 🥊 pic.twitter.com/j6NesimFAR
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) December 27, 2025

With Inoue openly admitting that retirement is on his mind, the bout with Nakatani could be the final big fight of his career. Inoue is already widely regarded as the greatest boxer in Japanese history and arguably the best sub-140-pound fighter of all time.

The Latest Boxing News

Jim Lampley Drops Clear Message On Terence Crawford Retirement Rumors

Eddie Hearn Has Shock Reaction To Jake Paul’s Mom's Comments

Jake Paul Shares Motivational Health Update After Brutal Knockout

The Biggest Loser From The Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Fight