Nick Ball left Riyadh with the WBA featherweight title still strapped on and a mandate for bigger nights. After 12 tight, physical rounds with Sam Goodman, the scorecards proved wider than many ringside expected, but promoter Frank Warren didn’t hesitate: unifications are next on the agenda.
Goodman gave a “marvellous account,” finding Ball repeatedly, especially downstairs and with the left hook, but couldn’t keep the Liverpool pressure cooker off long enough. When the Aussie had early success, Ball adjusted, stepping in behind a jolting up-jab and dragging the fight into his favoured phone-booth exchanges. That’s the Ball proposition: you can touch him, but you have to fight him.
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Now the targets are clear and varied. IBF titleholder Angelo Leo brings pace and a sharp left hook; WBC champion Stephen Fulton offers layers of craft and two wins over Brandon Figueroa; and long-limbed Rafael Espinoza poses a range and timing puzzle that would force Ball to solve distance before he can impose volume. Any of the three turns “Pocket Rocket” into must-watch theatre.
There are wild cards, too. The originally touted Luis Nery would add genuine jeopardy with fight-changing power, and if Naoya Inoue flirts with a move north, the intrigue spikes further, particularly to the body, where Goodman found joy.
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