Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani won their respective fights against Alan Picasso and Sebastian Hernandez to clear the final hurdle to ensure their highly anticipated Japanese showdown in May.

However, the manner of each man’s 12-round unanimous-decision win was decidedly different Saturday at Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Carl Moretti – vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank, which co-promotes Inoue and Nakatani – felt Nakatani edged Hernandez in a closely contested bout.

“It was an extremely competitive fight,” Moretti told The Ring. “Scoring from home I had it 7-5 [for Nakatani]. Scoring in person is always different. I didn’t think [Nakatani] won the 12th round. So, you’ve got to look at scorecards that were all over the place, but it’s not like we haven’t seen this type of thing before, either. Maybe more credit should be given to Sebastian. I think going in people looked at it as the best fight on the card and it certainly was.”

Judges Mike Hayel and Gary Kitanoski both scored the 12th round for Nakatani (32-0, 24 KOs), who won his junior featherweight debut 115-113 on each of their cards. Judge Nawaf Almohaimeed credited Nakatani, No. 6 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, for a much wider win, 118-110.

After the dust had settled, Inoue won without having any real issues.

“It was 12-0,” Moretti said. “You never thought the other guy was a threat. It was competitive early, but not really. I think guys at that level, they get to it, they know they got the guy beat, and they just coast.”

Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs), second pound-for-pound according to The Ring, retained his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound titles.

Moretti believes that when both men are on home ground next year that will ramp things up and both will be sharper and more clinical.

“I think the environment doesn't lead to stepping on the gas pedal," Moretti explained regarding fighting in Riyadh. “[Las] Vegas, New York, Japan, mentally the guys are more into it because of the atmosphere. Maybe [Inoue] saw or felt that like Canelo did [against William Scull] and just sort of glided through.”

In Moretti’s opinion, Inoue is at his best when he feels threatened, which never happened against Mexico’s Picasso (32-1-1, 17 KOs).

“When he fought [Ramon] Cardenas in the [United] States, Cardenas can punch with either hand, it was in Vegas, he was up for that, Cardenas dropped him,” Moretti said. “So, you had this fast-paced war that’s up for ‘Fight of The Year.’

“People underestimated Cardenas because they didn’t know his name. You knew Cardenas going into the Inoue fight had a great left hook. I don’t know if you could say that Picasso had any great weapons to give Inoue any problems and it played out that way.”

Inoue got up from a second-round knockdown en route to stopping Cardenas in the eighth round May 4 at T-Mobile Arena.

While Mexico’s Hernandez (20-1, 18 KOs) put Inoue-Nakatani in doubt for a period of time, it’s still there and will take place in Tokyo in May.

“That’s what's planned for now,” Moretti confirmed. “That's what’s on tap next. I think, despite what Nakatani looked like, it’s a very competitive fight. The fact you’re in front of a sold-out Tokyo Dome, Nakatani would have to raise his level, if that's possible, and he's going to have to, and I think Inoue gets up for it.

“Everybody is going to lean towards Inoue because of this fight, but when was the last time Inoue fought a tall, rangy southpaw, who could punch? Inoue takes chances like you wouldn’t believe. It’s not like nobody wants to see the fight because of the fight Nakatani had. [It’s] intriguing as hell, still.”