David Picasso had a false start for a fight against Naoya Inoue earlier this year, and the title shot was eventually given to Ramon Cardenas.

Picasso (30-0-1, 17 KOs) must now get past a lesser Japanese fighter in Kyonosuke Kameda (15-4-2, 9 KOs) on July 19 in order to get a shot at undisputed junior featherweight champion Inoue in a fight that is being targeted for Dec. 27 to headline a Japan vs. Mexico, Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia.

"I'm so excited how this fight against Kameda can change my life. I need this fight. It's an important fight and I will win," Picasso said during a recent virtual press conference.

Picasso vs. Kameda will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the non-PPV portion of the PBC on Prime Video card headlined by Manny Pacquiao's comeback at 46 against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

"I am ready for Inoue," said Picasso. "July 19 is the biggest fight of my life and we can worry about Inoue afterward. I am focused on what's in front of me in Kameda or else my mind will splinter in a million pieces. Once the world championship fight I crave comes my way, it will be amazing - the fulfillment of something that I have worked for my whole life.

"The fight against Inoue is something that I absolutely truly want, whether it's at junior featherweight or featherweight. I want to make it true at one point. It's part of my preparation and lifelong desire to be the best. Whenever it happens, I will be prepared."

Picasso, the WBC's No. 1-ranked challenger at 122 pounds and No. 5 for The Ring, said the Inoue fight didn't happen earlier this year due to timing and circumstances not aligning for him.

Picasso's fight against Kameda will mark his first in 2025 after a 5-0 campaign in 2024 featuring a 12-round decision win over former world title challenger Azat Hovhannisyan in August. Picasso, a 24-year-old from Mexico, last fought in December and scored a 3rd-round knockout win against Yehison Cuello.

Kameda, 26, is coming off a seventh-round stoppage loss against former two-division and Ring titleholder Luis Nery in February.

"We saw what he did against Nery – he has a big output and volume, and I have to withstand a lot of punches," said Picasso. "It's not about my opponent, it's about what I have to do."