Naoya Inoue Targeted For Historic Fight In UK Later This Year.

Naoya Inoue is reportedly being prepared for a historic bout in the UK later this year, following another excellent stoppage victory.

This past week, Mexican Luis Nery was the opponent of "The Monster" as he defended his unchallenged WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO super-bantamweight world belts. In the first round of the fight, he was knocked down for the first time in his career, which dealt him an early blow.

But he showed tenacity and bounced back in a typical way to win by knockout in front of a raucous 55,000 spectators at the Tokyo Dome, the historic arena where Buster Douglas had defeated Mike Tyson 34 years prior.

Inoue quickly regained the upper hand in the bout and dominated the second round onward. With a devastating left hook that took Nery, a Mexican opponent, by surprise, he changed the course of the fight.

Inoue was well in control by the fourth round, even making fun of Nery. He sent Nery to the canvas again in the fifth round with another brutal left hook, and in the sixth, he finished him off for good.

He is reportedly preparing for his next defense against Sam Goodman, the IBF mandatory challenger, who entered the ring and confronted Inoue following his most recent victory.

Now, Saudi Arabia's boxing head Turki Alalshikh is supposedly aiming to be the one to make it happen, so this next match might take place in September at none other than Wembley Stadium in the UK.

The claim, which has been translated and summarized, comes from Yahoo in Japan. They state that Inoue has already received an offer to defend his titles as part of the rumored Riyadh-Season card, which is expected to feature British former two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua as the main attraction on September 20 or 21.

According to the Yahoo article, there are plans for Saudi government officials to visit Japan later this month to finalize the potential deal. Additionally, there is talk of a possible fight in Saudi Arabia or at the Es Con Field Hokkaido, home of the Japanese baseball team Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

According to estimates, Inoue made about $3.8 million from his most recent victory over Nery, and the Saudis are preparing a $10 million offer.

Though he did fight Emmanuel Rodriguez in Glasgow on his road to winning the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight trophy in May 2019, Inoue has not competed outside of his own country in three years.