A potential bout between Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani is within grasp.

Will it cross the finish line and pave the way to one of the best, if not the best, fight that can be made in 2026?

The pound-for-pound talents from Japan have reached the final step on a treacherous path where many potential big fights have gone down, only to never happen or be delayed beyond when they should have first taken place after an unexpected loss. Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) will defend his undisputed 122-pound title against undefeated Mexican contender Alan Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs) in the main event of The Ring V: Night of the Samurai, on Saturday at Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on DAZN PPV.

In the co-main event, Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) will move up from 118 pounds, where he was a unified champion, to make his debut at 122 against hard-hitting Mexican Sebastian Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs).

Can Inoue and Nakatani escape unscathed and cross the finish line to set the stage for their epic clash? Here’s what they’re up against, with five planned fights that were delayed or haven’t happened due to a loss:

You don’t need to look far to find an example that fits the bill to a tee.

On May 31 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Plant and Charlo were placed on the same card, with plans for them to fight later in the year if they won their bouts. Charlo (34-0, 23 KOs), a former two-division champion, did his part by dropping Thomas LaManna three times before his corner stopped the fight in the sixth round.

Things didn’t go as smoothly for Plant (23-3, 14 KOs). He was thoroughly beaten by Jose Armando Resendiz in a split decision, dropping his interim WBA title. Now, even if Charlo, 35, and Plant, 33, still fight next, the bout between former world champions has lost some of its excitement and significance.

Had Plant beaten Resendiz (16-2, 11 KOs), a potential clash could have been for the full WBA title, with Terence Crawford deciding to retire and vacate his titles after defeating Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision on Sept. 13 to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

The Ring’s “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” on May 2 was about more than just a trio of big fights taking place in the middle of Times Square in New York.

It was also put together with hopes of setting up a rematch between Haney and Garcia. They met on April 20, 2024, and Garcia dropped Haney three times to earn a majority decision, but the result was overturned to a no-contest because the victor failed multiple drug tests for the performance-enhancing drug Ostarine. Garcia also missed weight by more than three pounds for the fight.

Haney (33-0, 15 KOs) returned to the ring in the co-main event at Times Square and won a one-sided but forgettable unanimous decision over former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez. Garcia (24-2, 20 KOs) was unable to fulfill his end of the deal in the main event, though, as he was dropped once in a lackluster unanimous decision defeat to two-division champion Rolly Romero in an interim WBA welterweight title bout.

Haney-Garcia II could still happen in the near future and somehow end up being even bigger than it would have been if they met again this year. Haney, 27, became a three-division titleholder when he dropped and defeated Brian Norman by unanimous decision on Nov. 22 to become the WBO welterweight champion. Despite the loss to Romero (17-2, 13 KOs), Garcia, 27, will likely face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs) in early 2026.

Should Garcia win, that could set the stage for a unification bout with Haney, which would only add more fuel to the fire in one of boxing’s best rivalries. For now, though, it still stands as a fight that fell apart due to one or both fighters of a planned fight losing.

They have been the stalwarts in this era of heavyweights and helped revive what was once a floundering division.

Despite their reigns atop the division coming at the same time, Joshua and Wilder have never met and appear destined to wind up in the same bucket as Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe.

After years of verbal sparring, Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) and Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) were placed on the same card on Dec. 23, 2023, in Saudi Arabia, with hopes of the megafight finally coming together in 2024. Instead, before Joshua stepped into the ring in the main event to face Otto Wallin, a potential bout against Wilder had already fallen apart.

Wilder, 40, struggled mightily as he couldn’t find a home for his straight right hand in a one-sided unanimous decision defeat to former heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker. Joshua, 36, delivered one of his better performances in recent years in a dominant fifth-round stoppage of Wallin.

Joshua vs. Wilder had long been one of the best fights that could be made when they were in their prime. Even if it were to finally happen, fans would likely still be left wondering what could have been if they fought nearly 10 years earlier.

This nearly happened for all of the belts in the summer of 2021.

A bout between the British behemoths in Saudi Arabia nearly came to fruition, but Wilder’s rematch clause for a third bout against Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) being enforced by a U.S. arbitrator brought it to a screeching halt. Fury, 37, was forced to defend his Ring Magazine and WBC heavyweight title against Wilder on Oct. 9, 2021, while Joshua was set to defend his IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk two weeks earlier.

The rest is history.

Joshua lost a unanimous decision to Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs), while Fury survived two knockdowns and dropped Wilder three times to win by 11th-round knockout in one of the best heavyweight title fights in recent memory. Joshua lost the rematch by split decision to the Ukrainian southpaw the following year and Usyk went on to beat Fury twice in 2024, with the first one making him the undisputed champion.

Things have reignited again between Joshua and Fury for a potential bout in late 2026, though, hurdles remain. One wouldn’t be faulted if they file this under the category of not believing the fight is going to happen until they’re both in the ring.

Yes, they eventually fought. No, it didn’t happen when it was first planned.

A deal was already in place for a unification heavyweight title bout in 1994.

Those plans were bent in half.

Morrison (48-3-1, 42 KOs) lost his WBO heavyweight title in a first-round stoppage loss to Michael Bentt on Oct. 29, 1993. Nearly 11 months later, Lewis lost his WBC title when he was stopped in the second round against Oliver McCall.

Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs) and Morrison eventually met in a non-title bout on Oct. 7, 1995. Lewis won a one-sided sixth-round stoppage over “The Duke.”