Featherweight warrior Nick Ball should be a superstar, and the way he’s going, the extremely fan-friendly operator may achieve such status. Not only is Ball one of the most exciting fighters out there today, but he also fights on a regular basis and likes staying active. Last night, in his Liverpool homecoming, Ball stopped a very game and gutsy Ronny Rios, this Ball’s fourth fight in 11 months.
Today, when so many of the best fighters box once, maybe twice a year, it’s refreshing to have an old-school guy like Ball to entertain us. And Ball did it again last night: he threw a ton of punches, and he scored three knockdowns, one of which sent 34 year old Rios of Santa Ana, California, through the ropes. Ball also shed some blood from his nose. Ball, who advanced to 21-0-1(12) as he retained his WBA title, also took whatever shots got through and took them well.
It was a rocking night in Liverpool, and 27 year old Ball seemed to enjoy it as much as the fans did. Rios, who fell in his third attempt at winning a world title, may have to think about calling it a career now, but if he does exit, he exits off the back of one heck of a game effort.
Now, 34-5(17), Rios came to take the belt home with him, and he did enjoy some good periods. But Ball was just too strong, too accurate and too powerful, he was just too relentless.
Ball and his supporters feel “The Wrecking Ball” is the best featherweight in the world, and Ball wants to prove it by unifying the titles. Speaking after he had stopped Rios in the 10th round, Ball said he wanted the other belts, as well as a fight with a certain “Monster.”
“Just the ones with the belts,” Ball said when speaking about who he wants to fight next. “I got one of the four. There are three more out there. It would be nice to get them and [Naoya] Inoue.”
It sure would be great, not just “nice,” to see Ball get it on with the other three featherweight champions out there (Rey Vargas, the WBC champ, who escaped with a controversial draw when he fought Ball back in March; Angelo Leo, the IBF champ, and Rafael Espinoza, the current WBO champ), and what action we would get, no matter who won the fights. But it may well be that Ball, all 5’3” of him, defeats them all and becomes the unified ruler at the weight. Let’s hope we get these fights. Ball wants all the smoke, and we fans want to see him smoke. Another man Ball may face soon is Stephen Fulton, Ball’s mandatory challenger. In contrast, that Inoue super fight could be nothing short of epic.
For now, Ball is fast becoming the man fans reply to when asked who their favorite active fighter is
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