RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – In a classy display, Japanese powerhouse Naoya Inoue scored a 12-round unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Alan Picasso to retain his Ring and undisputed junior featherweight championships for the sixth time at the Mohammed Abdo Arena on Saturday. The official scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 117-111.

The Ring had the champion pitching a shutout.

This is the first time that Inoue has been extended the distance in back-to-back fights since his career began 13 years ago. In September, “The Monster” easily outpointed former unified titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya, Japan.

Inoue (32-0, 27 KOs) was dazzling in the main event of 'The Ring V: Night of the Samurai' to pick up his 27th straight world title triumph The stage is now set for a gargantuan superfight with countryman and fellow pound-for-pound entrant Junto Nakatani, who defeated Sebastian Hernandez in the co-main event.

“My performance tonight wasn’t good enough. I could have done better,” said a humble Inoue via translator during his post-fight interview. “I’m glad I won, but I’m really tired. I need some rest.

“I’ll learn from this and will be much better next time.”

Inoue took some notes in the first half of the opening round, standing tall, almost daring Picasso to attack. Inoue then began circling his man, firing the jab, while mixing in some effective power shots. Very early, the Japanese powerhouse was operating on a level Picasso had never seen.

“Monster Mode” was activated in Round 2 with the defending champ scoring with some electrifying combinations. There was real emphasis on body shots. Picasso could only look on as his opponent opened up in front of him. The challenger scored with a couple of rights in response that were of nuisance value.

Whenever Picasso did get ambitious with his attacks, he was paid back in full by harder, quicker and more violent punches. It’s that type of fight pattern that sucks the life out of the receiving fighter and makes them reticent to throw punches.

Picasso landed his best shot, a left hook, in Round 5 and was immediately reprimanded by a four-punch combination and a brisk double jab. By this point in the fight, Inoue looked like he was practising in the gym. He went against the ropes, played “catch and shoot”, nailed the challenger with sharp left hands and one terrific right over the jab.

It’s not that Picasso wasn’t trying, he just could not compete at Inoue’s level. And you could count the number of junior featherweights from the past couple of decades who could compete on one hand. By Round 7, Picasso’s work rate had dropped and he was running out of ideas. Inoue jabbed off the target at will.

As the rounds passed by, Inoue had settled into automatic pilot. He was never threatened, while Picasso gave him very little to work off of. An accurate left jab and an intermittent burst of power shots kept the challenger honest as the fight entered the championship rounds.

Picasso released a few bursts in the closing stages of the 11th round, but the bout remained a turkey shoot until the final bell.

It is impossible to overstate just how big a fight Inoue vs. Nakatani is. Both fighters are undefeated. Both are multi-weight world champions in their respective primes. Both are rated comfortably within the pound-for-pound top 10. Both are authentic knockout artists. It doesn’t get any better than that.

“[Nakatani and I] had very good wins tonight,” said Inoue. “Next year we’re going to decide what will happen, but my Japanese fans can expect something very good.”

The fight is mooted for May 3 at the Tokyo Dome and would rank as the biggest in Japanese boxing history. For many fans and experts, Inoue vs. Nakatani might just be the most attractive showdown in world boxing.

Inoue, 32, also said during his interview that he’d been willing to take on Ring Magazine and unified junior bantamweight champ Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez whenever he’s ready.

Picasso falls to 32-1-1 (17 KOs).

CompuBox Stats: Picasso was game, but Inoue bested him in every statistical category tracked by CompuBox. Inoue landed 158 more punches than Picasso, holding a 161-63 edge in jabs landed, a 167-107 edge in power punches landed, and a 96-66 edge in body shots. Inoue averaged 27 lands per round, while allowing Picasso to only land 14 punches per round. The judge scored the fight 119-109, 120-108, and 117-111, all for Inoue.