Nick Ball retained his WBA featherweight title in the usual gritty, hard-fought fashion we’ve come to expect of him, beating Sam Goodman by unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ball (23-0-1, 13 KO) won on scores of 115-113, 117-111, and 118-110. You can argue the latter two cards are wide — and BLH unofficially scored the fight 115-113 for Ball, for what it’s worth — but no one who saw it will remember it as anything less than a competitive, back-and-forth battle between Ball and Goodman (20-1,
8 KO), who gave a fine account of himself in his first world title fight.
“Probably weren’t the best performance of mine. Honest opinion, yeah? But the main thing is we got the job done and still champion,” Ball said. “I’ll have to watch it back. But it was fan-friendly, everyone enjoyed it that were watching, that’s all good.”
Ball was asked about his next fight options, including the potential to unify at 126 or possibly welcome Naoya Inoue to the division, a fight Ball has repeatedly stated he badly wants, should Inoue move up again in weight.
“I just want to keep fighting, keep improving, and focusing on meself. Obviously I want the big names, the big title fights,” he said, declining to make any specific call-outs.
More undercard results
- 130/135 prospect Hayato Tsutsumi dropped Qais Ashfaq three times en route to a TKO win in the third round. Tsutsumi is now 8-0 (5 KO), and is a legit prospect, someone you should have an eye on going forward. Ashfaq falls to 13-4-1 (5 KO).
- Filip Hrgovic kept himself in the heavyweight mix with a decision win over David Adeleye. Adeleye (14-2, 13 KO) was tough and game, but he was also largely outclassed by the all-around skill level of the 33-year-old Hrgovic, who scored an eighth round knockdown but also got rocked badly later in that same round, which was a terrific three minutes of heavyweight slugging. A pretty good fight and there are some positives for Adeleye to take from this, but the better man won it and won it clear on scores of 98-91, 99-90, and 99-90. Hrgovic keeps himself in the heavyweight mix.
- Raymond Ford won by unanimous decision over Abraham Nova, taking scores of 96-94, 97-93, and 97-93. Not Ford’s absolute best performance, but a solid win over a solid — and short-notice — opponent to stay in the mix at 130 lbs. Matchroom have hinted at possibly matching Ford (18-1-1, 8 KO) against IBF titleholder Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez soon. Nova drops to 24-4-1 (17 KO) with another competitive loss at high level.
