WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford feels he can dominate challenger Nick Ball this Saturday night and have fun doing it when they battle in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) wants to put on an impressive display for his promoter, Eddie Hearn, and the boxing public so that he can lead the Matchroom team to victory in their competition against Queensberry in the ‘5 vs. 5’ event, live on DAZN PPV.
Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) is a tough cookie, and he might surprise Ford if he’s not ready for the type of brawling style he uses. It’s a much different style than Ford’s last opponent, Otabek Kholmatov, last March.
Ford’s Blueprint for Victory
“Just doing what I want in there and having fun. Enjoying every moment in the fight, and controlling it from round one until whenever it ends,” said WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford to Boxing News on what he needs to do for him to defeat Nick Ball on Saturday night in their 12-round fight on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ford is a boxer, and he’s likely thinking of boxing the small 5’2″ Ball and not letting him use his roughhouse tactics to make it a physical fight.
“For sure. I don’t want to say why, but I know I can,” said Ford when asked if this is the type of fight he believes he can dominate. “It’s up to him and his team to try and prove me wrong.”
It would be a mistake for Ford to underestimate Ball because he’s a lot tougher than people think. He’s polite during the build-up to his fights, but he’s a different animal inside the ring.
Assessing Ball’s Previous Fight
“I thought it was decent. I don’t think too much of Rey Vargas. So, I don’t know,” said Ford about what he thought of Nick Ball’s recent twelve-round draw against Rey Vargas last March in Riyadh. “I thought he [Ball] did [enough to win].”
Ball should have lost the fight to WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas, as he was given credit for a knockdown in the eighth when he shoved the champion and hit him.
That was a bogus knockdown, but the referee wasn’t doing much to control Ball’s tactics. If a similar referee works Saturday’s fight, Ford could have problems because Ball will definitely be roughing him up.
“It’s not surprising. People know what I can do. So it’s understanding,” said Ford when asked if he was surprised that fighters were not calling him out. “I definitely want to move up and get different titles. I don’t just want to stay at 126 and keep the WBA my whole career.”
Ford isn’t popular, so that’s another reason why none of the fighters are calling him out. If he were a big name, he would be getting called out. He’s 25 and hasn’t been in the pro ranks long enough to build a big fan base.
Moving Beyond Featherweight
“Being great comes from moving up and new beginnings and fighting new people in new weight classes. It could be. We just got to wait and see,” said Ford on whether this is the last time he fights at featherweight.
Ford will move up unless promoter Eddie Hearn has something for him at 126. Apart from a unification fight against IBF champion Luis Lopez, the featherweight division is dead. Ford would be better off at 130 unless he wants to wait to see if Naoya Inoue moves up, but he doesn’t seem like he’s in a hurry to leave 122.
“Easy. I feel comfortable right now. I got energy. Everything is good right now. I’m not too far from weight,” said Ford on whether he’s having a hard time making weight for Friday.
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