WBC Silver champion Nick Ball in touching distance of a world title shot
Winning the WBC Silver featherweight title in his last fight has given Liverpool’s Nick Ball (15-0, 7KOs) a top 15 world ranking.
The World Boxing Council released their updated rankings for June, and the 25-year-old prospect was delighted to see his name in 15th position, just a few places away from the world champion.
In his last fight on April 23 in front of 94,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, the three-time national amateur champion smashed through the bookies favourite Isaac Lowe (21-2-3, 6KOs) in six rounds to lift his first ever title.
The vacant WBC Silver featherweight belt was formerly held by four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire, who is a future Hall of Fame fighter and national hero in the Philippines.
There are four recognised governing bodies in boxing and the WBC is seen as the most prestigious of them all. Tyson Fury is their current heavyweight champion.
“Obviously, the British title is always a boss title to win,” Ball stated. “As a British fighter, everyone wants to fight for it, but the WBC is the best belt out there, no question, and has always been my favourite.”
Gaining the lofty ranking wasn’t an easy task, as his opponent, Isaac ‘Westgate Warrior’ Lowe, was 13th in the world when they fought, a vaster experienced former English, Commonwealth and WBC International champion, and had just been involved in a world title eliminator only four months before.
Despite this, and despite giving away a few inches in height and reach, the aggressive ‘Wrecking Ball’, who counts Mike Tyson as his inspiration, decked Lowe in the second round, lacerated his left eye in the third, then brutally stopped him in the sixth, forcing the referee to intervene and Lowe’s corner to throw in the towel.
Trained by Paul Stevenson at the Everton Red Triangle in Liverpool, there was more good news for the thriving gym when it was revealed that Nick’s teammate Andrew Cain is now ranked 29th in the WBC super-bantamweight rankings.
It’s a busy period for the ERT gym as Cain is on a collision course with his amateur rival Liam Davies, who just became the British super-bantamweight champion this month, and Ball is mandated to meet Commonwealth champion Nathaniel Collins in a British featherweight title fight on July 16 at the Copper Box Arena in London.
Although he already has one green and gold WBC strap and the opportunity to win the beautiful Lord Lonsdale belt, it won’t stop there for the talented featherweight, “Obviously, the goal is to win the world title. Fighting in America at Madison Square Garden is definitely on my wish list too, and Vegas because I’ve got family out there.”
Filipino fighter Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16KO) is the reigning WBC featherweight world champion to whom Ball sent a warning, “I’m coming for that No.1 spot!”
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