WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford expects challenger Nick Ball to both give up or his coach throws within the towel to avoid wasting him when the struggle will get out of hand on Saturday evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) feels he’s on one other degree to Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) and can beat him no matter method he needs of their match on the 5 vs 5 occasion, stay on DAZN PPV on the Kingdom Area.
Ball, 27, hasn’t proven a weak chin throughout his seven-year skilled profession, however he hasn’t confronted quite a lot of top-level fighters but. The one notable man Ball has confronted is WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas, and he was held to a twelve spherical draw in opposition to him final March.
Ball would have misplaced that struggle to Vargas if the referee hadn’t blown a name within the eighth spherical and had finished a greater job of policing his roughhousing techniques. If he’s unable to search out success, Ball will doubtless use comparable techniques in opposition to Ford.
Hopefully, the struggle doesn’t flip right into a pure mess like Ball’s final one as a result of that was onerous to look at. There was a lot fouling happening.
Ford’s Prediction
“Both he’ll give up, or his coach will throw within the towel. His coach has been doing quite a lot of speaking. I really need him to throw within the towel,” mentioned Raymond Ford to BoxNation, predicting a stoppage win in opposition to Nick Ball on Saturday.
It’s uncertain that Ford will rating a knockout in opposition to Ball as a result of he’s not a large enough puncher, and he’ll put himself in danger if he elects to slug with the challenger. Ball is the higher puncher of the 2 and might be proper at dwelling in a slugfest.
“100%, he’s going to really feel it, yeah. I’m going to make him really feel it,” mentioned Ball about his intention of placing a hurting on Ford. “Yeah, undoubtedly,” mentioned Ball when requested if he sees himself knocking out Ford.
“I at all times knew it might come thus far the place I used to be a world champion, however I don’t know. It’s an unreal feeling,” mentioned Ford to DAZN Boxing on the way it feels to be a world champion. “I’ve been working onerous my complete life for that second.
“To lastly get right here and it paying off, it feels nice. The following purpose is to maintain profitable get extra titles, and get larger fights. You by no means know the place life goes to take you. So long as you retain working onerous, believing in your self, and placing your all into no matter you like to do, it may well take you actual far.
“They’re are in all probability simply taking a look at my final struggle [against Otebek Kholmatov] like, alright, that was an thrilling struggle. We all know, Nick Ball, he’s going to carry strain. He’s an thrilling fighter. We need to see these two guys conflict.’
“I suppose it simply made essentially the most sense for the followers for me and him to be going in opposition to one another, particularly with him virtually being a world champion. It might have been a unification struggle.
“I need to go up in several weight courses and struggle totally different champions and struggle larger guys, struggle those that they assume I can’t beat. So, that’s a part of the legacy that I need,” mentioned Ford.
