Nick Ball walked away with the win, claiming a world title against Raymond Ford on Saturday, June 1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout was featured on the Queensberry vs Matchroom: 5vs5 fight card topped by Deontay Wilder vs Zhilei Zhang.
The British contender dethroned the defending champion of Camden, New Jersey by split decision. After 12 rounds of an all-round action, one judge scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Ford, while two other judges had the same for Ball.
Nick Ball became a new WBA featherweight champion, lifting a world title on his second attempt. This past March, the native of Liverpool, England fought Mexico’s WBC 126-pound titleholder Rey Vargas to a split draw. With the victory over Ford, the 27-year-old remained unbeaten and improved to 20-0-1, 11 KOs.
“[I] should be two-time [world champion], but obviously it’s not the case,” Ball said post-fight. “But I’m the champ now so it doesn’t really matter.”
“[Raymond Ford] is a tough man and he’s a class boxer as well. I had to dig deep to get the job done and I went going on without the belt.”
“What’s next, seeing what [promoter] Frank [Warren] has got going. I’m ready whenever, just wait for the call and go from there.”
Raymond Ford didn’t succeed in his first championship defense and lost the title. The 25-year-old southpaw suffered his first career defeat and dropped to 15-1-1, 8 KOs.
“I thought I did enough, but it was a close fight,” Ford said. “It was a lot that I allowed to go on in there, and I should have listened to my corner a little bit more. But Nick Ball, you know, he was the better man tonight, I don’t got no excuses.”
In his next fight Ford is expected to make his debut at super featherweight.
“Definitely on to 130,” he said. “I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to fight on this great card.”
Get Queensberry vs Matchroom: 5vs5 full fight card results.
