Nick Ball Keen To Steal The Show Against Rey Vargas on Joshua Vs Ngannou Undercard
Nick Ball may be surrounded by massive heavyweights in Saudi Arabia this week, but the featherweight contender is determined to steal the show on Friday.
Ball (19-0-0 11 KO) takes on WBC featherweight world champion Rey Vargas (36-1-0 22 KO) on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s headline fight with Francis Ngannou at the ‘Knockout Chaos’ event in Riyadh.
While much of the attention has understandably been on the main bout, Ball’s fight with Vargas could be the most exciting clash of the night, and the 27-year-old Englishman says he is ready to make a statement.
“It’ll be an explosive performance,” said Ball, who took part in the Grand Arrival in Riyadh with his fellow fighters on Monday. “I know I’ve got a lot more in me to show. This opponent and this style, this will bring the best out of me.”
Ball, who made his professional debut in June 2017, enters the bout following a career-best performance against Isaac Dogboe where he dominated on the scorecards to retain his WBC silver title. Vargas, a two-weight world champion, represents an entirely different challenge, but Ball is unfazed.
“He’s in my way,” he said. “I’ve wanted a world title shot my whole life and I’ve got it. So the chance is now. It doesn’t matter who’s in there with me. I’ll take it from them. I’ve been working my whole life for it and now I’ve got the chance, on a massive platform. So I’m not going to let it slip. Definitely not. It means everything to me.”
The featherweight division was the focus of the boxing world last weekend when Raymond Ford won the vacant WBA title with a dramatic 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov having trailed on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
On the undercard of the event at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, IBF champion Luis Alberto Lopez defended his title with an eighth-round knockout of Reiya Abe.
Ball Ready To ‘Fight Anyone’
Ford’s promoter Eddie Hearn opened up the possibility of the WBA champion fighting Ball as soon as June 1 on the Matchroom vs Queensbury, five-vs-five event in Saudi Arabia, although that would depend on Ball beating Vargas on Friday.
Ball insists that he is ready to fight anyone in the division, adding: “Once I win that, the doors open, anything can happen. [Lopez] stopped Conlan, he looked good in that. It was a good fight. I like his style, he comes forward and throws hard punches so he’s exciting, no matter what fight he’s going to be in, which I like because you’ve got to give people their money’s worth.
“He’s the type of fighter that will do that, like myself. You’ve got to excite them so that’s what we do. But any of these world champions and anyone at my weight, get me in with them… I’ll fight anyone.”
Also on the ‘Knockout Chaos’ card, Zhilei Zhang puts his WBO interim heavyweight title on the line against Joseph Parker, undefeated lightweight Mark Chamberlain takes on Gavin Gwynne, and heavyweight prospect Andrii Novytsky aims for his 10th professional win against Juan Torres.
Completing the line-up, unbeaten heavyweight Justis Huni fights Kevin Lerena, Saudi Arabian super-lightweight Ziyad Almaayouf contests his fifth pro fight against journeyman Christian Lopez Flores, and Tyson Fury’s cruiserweight brother, Roman Fury, fights Martin Svarc.
