Busy Nick Ball is braced for whatever may come against Ronny Rios

If you were to ask somebody to name Nick Ball’s best qualities, it would be a pretty safe bet that they would instantly point to the WBA featherweight titleholder’s relentless work rate and clubbing power.

But the Liverpudlian’s biggest asset may just be his mental strength.

Over the past 12 months, few fighters in the world have been as active, at such a high level, as Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs).

This time last year, Ball was beginning preparations to take on Isaac Dogboe in a final eliminator for Rey Vargas’ WBC title. Now, he is established as one of the world’s best featherweights and is just days away from defending his WBA belt against Ronny Rios, from Compton, California.

Preparing for fights at the world level is grueling both physically and psychologically, but Ball hasn’t wavered throughout an exceptional 12 months.

In March, he traveled to Saudi Arabia for his shot at Vargas. Ball bullied the awkward, experienced Mexican over the second half of their fight but was forced to settle for a controversial draw despite dropping the tough Vargas twice.

Rather than crying about the result, Ball accepted a quick-fire offer to fight WBA titleholder Raymond Ford on the Queensberry vs. Matchroom “5 vs. 5” show and got back to work.

Ball produced an even better performance in his second attempt at winning a title and was awarded a deserved split decision victory.

Over the past 12 months, the 27-year-old Ball’s life has changed dramatically, but he knows he must maintain his focus.

“The money’s a bonus,” Ball said during Queensberry’s “Locked In” show. “As a kid, your dream is to become a world champion, isn’t it? That’s every boxer’s dream. That’s what everyone wants to do, but as I’ve said before, I haven’t worked this hard my whole life to get to this point and let someone take that from me now. It’s definitely not going to be happening.

“It’s frustrating what happened, but there are worse things going on in the world. It is what it is. I’m lucky enough to have a solid team around me and a promoter in Frank Warren who got me another opportunity for a world title. That took the edge off it as well. You can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself.

It’s one of them things. It’s in the past, I can’t change it, so brush it off and on to the next. There’s always more to come, so focus on that rather than dwelling on the past.”

Ball will face an entirely different mental challenge Saturday against Rios. For the first time since last May’s victory over Ludumo Lamati, he enters a fight as a prohibitive favorite. Rios is a solid fighter who has acquitted himself well at the highest level of the junior featherweight division, but he couldn’t quite get over the hump and claim a world title – despite performing bravely against Vargas and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. On form, there isn’t a better featherweight in the world than Ball, and he is in no mood to let the prize he fought so hard for slip away.

“He’s just another opponent, to be honest,” Ball said. “He’s a fighter coming over – which I respect – to try and take my world title from me. It’s an opportunity for him, so he’s going to be trying to take it with both hands, but that’s not going to be happening when you’re facing me.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79