Liverpool’s next great fighter must overcome boxing’s curse in real life Rocky story

Nick Ball defends his WBA title this weekend in a homecoming bout against California’s Ronny Rios, if ‘Wrecking Ball’ prevails, big fights await the featherweight star

Nick Ball poses for a photo after victory over Raymond Ford (Getty)

In a year when truly giant fights have dominated the boxing landscape, Nick Ball has been in two of the very best and is a genuine world champion.

Ball fought two world title fights in Saudia Arabia earlier this year, drawing with one champion in March and then beating a previously unbeaten champion to win the WBA featherweight title at the Matchroom vs Queensberry event in June.

He has been fighting in the shadow of Tyson Fury against Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua against Daniel Dubois; fights that big often cast a heavy shadow over the rest of the business. Ball has slipped under the boxing radar.

This Saturday, Ball returns to his beloved Liverpool for a defence against California’s Ronny Rios and he is the main attraction, the main event in the homecoming. “It’s my time now, my city – this is why we fight,” Ball said.

In March, on the undercard of Joshua’s sickening knockout win over Francis Ngannou, at the Kingdom Hall in Riyadh, Ball dropped Rey Vargas of Mexico twice and pushed the champion all over the ring, but the fight for the WBC featherweight title finished in a controversial split decision draw. One judge gave it to Ball by six points, one to Vargas by two points and the third had them even. It looked harsh on Ball; 10 weeks later, he was back at the Kingdom Arena and his task looked even harder.

Ray Ford was unbeaten in 16 fights, one of Eddie Hearn’s main attractions, a smart fighter with a knockout punch in either hand; Ball was simply unstoppable on the night and refused to compromise. It was a quality fight, two unbeaten men with too much pride fighting each other to a standstill on the final bell. It was tight, it was very close and when the scores were read, Ball had won the WBA featherweight title by a split decision. He talked that night of a homecoming, and he certainly deserved it after 24 monumental rounds in world title fights on the road. Ball resembled a fighter from the Seventies, a man with a bag, a dream and a faded passport.

Nick Ball of Team Queensberry punches Raymond Ford of Team Matchroom (Getty)

“There are a lot of big fights out there for me,” said Ball. “I need to get through this and hopefully we can get one of the other champions in the ring. I have shown that I will go anywhere and fight anybody.”

Rios has lost four times in 38 fights, beaten in world title fights twice, and looks ideal on paper for Ball to finish an extraordinary year with an impressive win; he is also smart enough to win if Ball has his eyes beyond Saturday’s fight at the old Echo Arena (now the M&S Bank Arena). Ball would not be the first champion to win in style and then lose in confusion; it is a bigger fight for Rios than it is for Ball and that can often create problems. It can be a boxing curse to be considered a big favourite in a hometown fight of this importance.

Nick Ball looks on during the WBC World Featherweight title fight against Rey Vargas (Getty)

Ball’s two fights in Saudia Arabia transformed him, made him a better fighter; he, as they say, “rolled the dice” in both fights and took risks that few modern boxers are prepared to take. Ball will not be looking beyond Rios, not be staring too far forward when that first bell sounds in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday night. Ball, by the way, can walk from his home to the arena in a few minutes – that is a Rocky story, my friend.